Just a Moment
by Otter Child
Summary: A quick trip to Cardiff for fuel and a chat draws the Doctor into a mess he hadn't bargained for. Soon he's on the trail of a something that feeds on Time itself, dragging his daughter and the Torchwood team along for the ride.
1. Chapter 1

1

Analisa Dimirov put down her pencil with a smile. She'd aced this exam for sure. And quite right too; she'd studied half the night for it, and the only thing keeping her awake right now was a shot of espresso. But the test itself had been so easy, a lot easier than she'd expected. Analisa stood up, gathering her things amid the scritch of pencils and the muted rustle of paper. This would earn her an A in the class, and that could bump her GPA up to a decent level, so maybe…

The world shifted beneath her feet. Chills ran up and down Analisa's spine. She stumbled as her vision tilted and blurred. She needed to find something to hold on to, to keep her standing…was she standing? Or was she walking? Or sitting with a pencil in her hand? For a moment, it felt as if she were doing all three.

The test, she was taking the test-no, she'd taken the test already-or had she?

The world around her seemed to bend and warp-she reached out for something, someone…someone was beside her…

Analisa Dimirov put down her pencil with a sigh. She'd failed this exam for sure. It had seemed so easy at first, but she'd missed her coffee this morning, and despite all the cramming she'd done last night the facts had just slipped out of her mind. She couldn't seem to remember a thing she was being tested on, though she'd studied half the night for it. Now she'd be lucky to hold a B in this class. And she'd been so close to a good GPA this semester. Analisa stood up, gathering her things. She handed her paper over to her professor reluctantly, and pushed through the classroom door. Dammit, why couldn't things have been different?

…………………………………………………………………………….

Jack Harkness walked down the alleyway, his blue eyes watchful. Today was not a good day. It wasn't a bad day. It had to get a lot worse to qualify as a bad day. But getting pulled out of a warm bed and away from Ianto at five in the morning, hunting a weevil before breakfast, and now tracking this strange signal through the city did not constitute a good day. He could have delegated the signal-hunt, but it was best if he took it. His team-what was left of his team-was run ragged as it was. Keeping the strange and dark in check for the people of the UK had been a handful for five people. It was nearly impossible for three. He'd have to start hunting around for some new agents. But…

He turned a corner. But maybe not just yet. Not quite yet. He could afford some sentimentality.

In his pocket, the energy tetrameter began to vibrate wildly. He pulled it out, eyes sharp.

"About time." He growled, looking over the information. But it wasn't the signal he'd been following. This was something much more powerful. He began to jog lightly, following the coordinates. Hopefully it wouldn't be anything really serious. But with his luck it'd be something….

Then Jack froze. Was that…

He broke into a sprint. Yes. He'd heard it. _That _sound. Through another street and down another alley-and there it was. The tall blue box stood incongruously in the middle of the alley, blocking access to a restaurant dumpster. Jack stood in front of the TARDIS, arms akimbo, a grin he couldn't help brightening his somber face. The door opened, and he stepped forward to embrace…

A girl. A tall, dark haired girl that stepped out of the TARDIS door. She glanced over the alley, then up at the sky, pulling straight the long blue pea-coat she wore over a red dress. A very nice-looking girl, Jack noted idly. Around twenty-five, maybe? Somewhere around there.

The girl turned abruptly and stared at him. Her brow wrinkled, her eyes narrowing as she looked him over, studying him with an expression something like distaste. Jack met her eyes. They were so dark, almost black. And the expression in them was familiar, as if you were being looked into, not at. It was the look Jack had gotten every morning in his days on the TARDIS. Could the Doctor regenerate into a woman? He'd almost opened his mouth to ask, when another girl stepped out of the doors, this one platinum blonde, the black t-shirt and jeans accentuating her light coloring. Some girl. Maybe eighteen, nineteen. Looked very athletic too. A little short for him, but still…

"Did we hit the right spot?" the blonde girl asked, throwing the strap of a satchel over her shoulder and slinging the bag behind her in a fluid movement. "I think-"Then she glanced at Jack, and took a quick step back, staring at him with the expression most people displayed the first time they saw a weevil. Well, these two weren't much help for the self-image. A voice from inside the ship cut the staredown.

"Very nice, but you've got to watch those gauges, Jenny." Then the Doctor stepped out of his ship, glancing distractedly over his shoulder. He looked no different from the last time they'd met. Same long, lithe, thin body, maybe even nicer than the first one Jack had seen. Same long coat and suit. Same hair that begged fingers to run through it-Jack shut off the line of thought as the Doctor caught sight of him, and that thin, refined face broke into a grin.

"Jack!" The Doctor strode over, taking Jack's hand in a firm handshake. Jack grinned, and pulled his friend into a hug, slapping him on the back.

"Doc! Noticed your signal when you materialized."

"Really? Ooh, getting sloppy I am." Smiling, the Doctor turned to the two girls, who were still staring at Jack as if he was something contagious.

"Girls, this is-"

"Captain Jack Harkness." Jack cut in smoothly, stepping forward. He smiled charmingly at the older girl.

"And when did the Doctor start travelling with such lovely companions?"

"Jack, don't." The Doctor's voice had a hint of something extra behind his usual warning. Jack shot him the wolfish glance that he still remembered how to do, after all this time.

"Doctor, even you can't say whether I talk to a pair of lovely girls or not. Now ladies, what're your names? Perfection and Beauty, maybe?"

"Jack, really, _don't._"

Jack turned his eyes on the younger girl with a conspiratorial smile. "Don't mind him, he's too old to understand a little flirting with a pretty girl anymore. And…"

"_Jack_!" The tone of the Doctor's voice caught Jack's attention, turning him on reflex. The Time Lord was glowering at him, his eyes nearly black. He pointed one long finger at the girls.

"That's my granddaughter. That'smy daughter. Really, I mean it, _don't_."

For a moment, Jack Harkness, with so many year's worth of glib commentary in his head, couldn't think of a word to say.

_**Author's Note:For those who haven't read my earlier stuff, the granddaughter is Susan Foreman, who took the name of the Walker when she reached adulthood. The disclamer's implicit. Enjoy! **_


	2. Chapter 2

2

Jenny kept her eyes trained on the man's back in the half-light of the stairwell. She couldn't seem to stop staring at him, though it made her skin crawl. Something about him just _wasn't right_. It wasn't the man himself, not really. He seemed nice enough. In fact, she couldn't put her finger on what was setting her off.

"So this is the Torchwood of the modern ages, aye?" The Doctor was commenting ahead of her. "Bit stuffy."

"We like to keep our operations low-key." The man in the military coat replied lightly. "Besides, it keeps the heating bill down."

She watched the black coat flap with narrowed eyes. It was his timelines, that was it. He was… out of synch, that was a good description. Out of step with…everything, really.

_Father?_ she murmured internally.

"Hmm?"

_What's wrong with him?_

Her father turned his head, meeting her eyes.

_You mean Jack?_

She nodded. The Doctor glanced at the man ahead of him, then back at his daughter. _Rather twists your guts up to look at him, doesn't it? No worries, it's just instinct pointing out how unnatural he is. Everything in time changes, except for Jack. See how still his lines are, how none of them interact with the lines of his environment? He's pretty much a slap in the face to relative time-space and the continuum, so looking at him throws your instincts off a bit. But, like I said, no worries, harmless._

_Why?_

Her father shrugged, his eyes leaving hers. _It's rather a long story. There was a crisis a while back, and Jack's timelines… essentially, Jack became a fixed point in time during the mess. He doesn't change, or rather he changes at a different rate from everything else. And if you want to know how it happened, I'll have to tell you that I frankly have no idea._

Beside Jenny, the girl called the Walker nodded.

_That does explain a great deal._

The Doctor shot her a glance.

_You caught that all, Walker?_

_Yes. My apologies, I couldn't help but overhear the question._

Jenny shrugged.

_No problem._

_But how…_

The Walker's question was cut short as the man ahead of them announced "Here we are." He clicked a button on the wall, and the door in front of them rolled open, followed by a rather impressive set of barred gates. The man called Jack grinned at them.

"Welcome to Torchwood Three. Home sweet home, for the most part." He strode into the room, calling out.

"Gwen! Got those readouts for me?"

A disgruntled female voice replied from somewhere in gloom. "Yes, Jack, I got your bloody readouts. Where in hell have you been? You went gallivantin' off this morning, an' I've been tracking up and down the city, an' you said you'd call, an' instead-"

The speaker walked into sight around a column, a sheaf of papers in her hand. She froze in mid sentence, her eyes widening.

"Oh-" she stared at them, her dark eyes huge. "You're the Doctor!"

The Doctor grinned. "Yep, that's me. Hello Gwen-Cooper, wasn't it? Yes, Gwen Cooper. Nice to meet you in person this time."

"Yeah," the woman said, stepping forward, "But what are you doing here? Is something gone wrong? And who-"

"Oh, nothing wrong, just a social visit." The Doctor shrugged. "Just dropped by, an' bumped into Jack, an' he invited us home."

"Done that often enough." Jack commented, grinning. The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Jack, we get that. By the way, something has to be wrong whenever I'm around? What's Jack been telling you about me then? Or was it just last time setting a precedent? Sorry, no moving the world this time." He glanced at his daughter. "By the way, sorry, terrible at introductions. This is Jenny, and-"

"The Walker." The older girl said, nodding to Gwen. "A pleasure."

"Who happen to be the Doctor's kids." Jack grinned, pulling off his military coat."Doc, how come you never told me you had kids?"

"Probably because you never asked. By the way, nice place you have here." He said, eyes roving around the room. Glancing to the side, he grinned.

"Oh, your rift manipulator! I've got to take a look at that. You mind?"

"Be my guest."

The Doctor smiled widely. "Brilliant." He bounced across the room.

Gwen watched him, smirking. "This what kept you, Jack?"

The man shrugged, smiling. He glanced at Jenny, and turned the smile up a notch.

"Well, seems you ladies are in need of the ten-cent tour. Shall we?"

…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

The flower stems had begun to drip in his hand. He should have left them in their wrapper, but it just didn't seem classy. He hoped they wouldn't wilt before she arrived. They shouldn't. They really ought to be all right for half an hour.

He fidgeted in his seat, then realized he looked a bloody fool wiggling about in his chair. Calm down. He needed to calm down. She was going to get here. Give it another ten minutes.

He pulled the wrinkles from his shirt surreptitiously. How they'd ever talked him into this blind date he'd never know. The whole thing was rubbish. He took another nervous sip of his coffee. Well, maybe not complete rubbish. Talking to Christina over the phone had been pretty great. So it wasn't quite a blind date, not really. If he was really honest, he was pretty keen to meet her.

He sat forward in his chair. Was that her? He sat back. Nope. No red book in her hand. He fiddled with the flower stems. His sister had said Christina was pretty well read. So…he sat up again. Was that her? Yes, there was the red book…and my, she was even prettier than he'd thought she'd be. He stood, flowers in hand. And the world tilted underfoot, like some sort of carnival ride. For a moment he was so thrown that he wasn't sure if he was on his feet or on his arse. Come to think of it, where was he? He was waiting for something, something special…maybe the bloke standing behind him would know…he turned…

The flower stems had begun to drip in his hand. He should have left them in their wrapper. He hoped they wouldn't wilt before she arrived. He fidgeted in his seat, then realized he looked a bloody fool wiggling about in his chair. He needed to calm down. She was going to get here. Give it another ten minutes.

He pulled the wrinkles from his shirt surreptitiously. How they'd ever talked him into this blind date he'd never know. The whole thing was rubbish. He gulped coffee nervously. Bloody rubbish.

He sat forward in his chair. Was that her? He sat back. Nope. No red book in her hand. He fiddled with the flower stems.

Well wait, just wait. Give it another twenty minutes.

After an hour he left the café table, hands deep in the pockets of his jeans as he boarded the bus. He barley glanced at the lovely girl who sat near the door, digging frantically in her satchel for the red book that she'd been sure she'd brought.

……………………………………………………………………………………………..

"I didn't know that humans were sanctioned to own these in the twenty first century."

Jack glanced from his computer screen to the object held in the Walker's slim fingers.

"We're not, exactly."

The Walker's eyebrows curved upwards.

"Does Grandfather know you have it?"

Jack leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yup. Fact is he gave it to me. So if he thinks I can handle it, maybe you can stop worrying." With a small grin, he turned back to the screen.

The Walker shook her head slightly, setting the object back down. Sometimes she simply could not understand her grandfather's reasoning. At times his actions seemed positively erratic. He'd always been a bit of a rouge element, not to mention slightly impulsive and scatterbrained, and the tendency seemed to have increased with age and regeneration. Imagine forgetting to report that there was a new member of the family walking about for more than a year. She shook her head slightly, smiling to herself. The first she'd known about it was an odd, distant sense in the back of her head, a sense of something changing, something out of place. And then there'd been the day they'd met. She'd been helping to conclude a spice-trading treaty between Beloruix and the colonists of the Fanti-Havi moon when her ship had reported the landing of another TARDIS. Making her excuses, she'd all but dashed out of the main hall. And there had been her grandfather's ship, sitting on the gravel path to the gardens. Her grandfather stepped out, glancing around. He grinned widely, catching sight of her.

"Walker! There you are! Wondered how long we'd have to hunt about for you!"

"Grandfather!!" the Walker had laughed, "I hadn't expected to see you so soon!"

"Yes, I'm sure, but something cropped up, you see, and…" He had paused then, glancing behind him as someone stepped out of the TARDIS. A girl, a girl with hair like moonlight and timelines that the Walker could only stare at in shock. She couldn't be…

The Doctor's smile grew wider.

"Nope, you're not seeing things m'girl. This is Jenny. Jenny, this is the Walker."

"A pleasure." The Walker replied dazedly. After a moment she remembered to put out a hand to shake.

Instead, the girl crossed her arms over her chest, grinning.

"Well that's some way to say hello to a sister." She had said.

Sister. The knowledge still had the tendency to hit her like backwash from a hyperspace engine at times. The Walker glanced up to where Jenny was peering over the shoulder of the woman sitting at the main computer. Aunt, actually, if you wanted to be specific. But she might as well be a younger sister. Much younger, of course. To think that the Doctor hadn't told her a thing about it for a year. Silly old man.

She set aside another piece of technology, distantly wondering why something like it would have survived the trip through the Rift. Sister. She'd never had a sister. Only the Cousins in her House and peers in the Academy class. This girl rather reminded her of her classmates, though she was quite a lot less quiet than they had been. 'The little soldier' her grandfather had said fondly, and that was an apt description for Jenny. A warrior, active and spontaneous. The Walker had begun to see that in the two weeks since she'd met the girl, when Jenny and Grandfather had asked her to take a holiday from her work and travel with them for a bit at least. Jenny acted, actually, quite a lot like Grandfather, all energy and impulse and fight. Which made sense, given her manner of birth.

She glanced over a vial set out on the table, marked 'Danger-Do Not Inhale' Humans assuredly ought not to have that compound, if it was what she thought it was.

A sister. Another Time Lord. Such a strange and lovely thing to happen. But the poor girl had such a lot to learn, and only Grandfather to teach her. Granted, he was probably one of the most experienced and knowledgeable creatures in the Universe. But he was, for all that, still a man, and still rather elderly. Ah well.

"Anyone up for coffee?"

The Walker glanced over her shoulder. The smaller man she'd met earlier was carrying a tray of cups as he came down a flight of metal-grill stairs into the main room.

"I've also got tea if you prefer. If you're allergic to coffee or something of the sort."

"Somebody say tea?"

The Doctor appeared from around a corner, hands in the pockets of his brown suit.

"That'd be lovely, ta. Could use a cup of something. Come to think of it, haven't had anything today. Forgot to eat this morning when we got to working."

"I've got biscuits too."

The dark-haired woman called Gwen snorted. "Ianto, you trying to poison these people, and they just got to Earth? Those things are a misery."

The man shrugged placidly as he handed out cups.

"I could order in donuts if you want. Just don't feed any to Myfanwy and make her ill again."

Gwen shrugged. "Wasn't me last time."

"Myfanwy?" Jenny asked, straightening. In response, all three humans in the room pointed upwards. The Time Lords looked up. High in the wide twilight of the vaulted ceiling, something dark and leathery was sitting on a strut. Then it moved. The Walker caught a glance of one beady eye and a long, thin bill.

_Is that a…_

The Doctor leaned back, his eyes wide . "Ha! Pteranodon! Jack, you've got a pteranodon! Beautiful!!"

"Not when she's got diarrhea she's not." Gwen said ruefully. "Course anyone who's dotty enough to feed her slices of pizza deserves to clean up after her. Aye Jack?"

The dark man smiled lightly. "Oh, I don't know. Anyway-" he pushed himself from his chair, "Got an idea. Special guests, special breakfast. Gwen, shut that down. Ianto, put that away. We're going out to breakfast. Interested, Doc?"

"Interested? Me? Oh, always interested in a free meal, me."

"But Jack!" the dark-haired woman called from her seat, "We can't leave! There's this work to do, and we've got to watch the Rift, you know it's acting up, and-"

"It'll keep, Gwen. Anything goes wrong, it'll pop up on here." Jack said, tapping the unit on his wrist. "Now let's get moving."

The Doctor turned to his granddaughter with a wide smile.

"Breakfast! Lovely! Come on!" He turned on his heel, bounding up the stairs. His daughter had already beaten him to the door. The Walker followed, unable to suppress a bit of a grin.

Jack had chosen a pleasant, airy café for their meal. He dropped into a chair with an air of complete relaxation, his arms behind his head.

"Best food in Cardiff, Doc. See what you think."

"Thanks! Oh look girls, they've got chocolate-chip pancakes! Chocolate in breakfast! Humans do think up some of the best ideas! Got to order that." He snapped the menu down on the table with a grin, glancing around the table."Everybody ready to order, then?"

"Doctor," Jack said amusedly, "nobody else has read the menu."

The Doctor glanced at them, surprised. "Oh, right. Sorry."

Sitting beside him, Jenny caught the Walker's eyes and shook her head. The Walker grinned in reply as she glanced at her own menu.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

"I believe you're really going to be pleased with the new product."

The pitch was going perfectly. She was perfectly professional, a businesswoman. But on the inside she was a giddy girl hugging herself in sheer delight. The investors were eating out of her hand. She'd picked the perfect time and the perfect place for them to fill their faces while they listened to her pitch. This was so very great. Sure and they'd buy the stuff, and when she got back to the home office and they saw what a job she'd done she'd be promoted for sure. Senior sales associate! Wouldn't that be something to tell the folks!

"The Daffodil cordial is just the thing for a healthy growing child. And soon every mother in the UK is going to know it, with a little help from us, of course." She gave the cheeky smile that she'd practiced in the mirror, then popped the top off the can.

"To your health!"

They were all smiling at her.

"Well," their head man said, "I think that-"

What was wrong with her eyes? She blinked hard to clear her vision. Everything was swimming. But it wasn't her eyes. She felt it under her feet too, a bending, like the floor was going to give way-and why couldn't she hear the buyers anymore? And where were they? Silly, they'd gone home already, they'd made their purchase and gone…but no, that wasn't right, they were arriving here to see her deal pitch…she had to put the deal through…was she in the wrong place? Someone was stepping up close behind her, and she turned to ask…

"I believe you're really going to be pleased with the new product."

The pitch was going perfectly. She was perfectly professional. The investors were eating out of her hand. She'd picked the perfect time and the perfect place for them to fill their faces while they listened to her pitch. She made a circuit as she spoke, using the can of cordial to gesture emphatically. This was so very great. Sure and they'd buy the stuff, and when she got back to the home office and they saw what a job she'd done she'd be promoted for sure. Senior sales associate! Wouldn't that be something to tell the folks!

She stopped in front of their head man. Everybody had said the guy was such an old troll and vindictive to boot, but here he was, smiling placidly.

"The Daffodil cordial is just the thing for a healthy growing child. And soon every mother in the UK is going to know it, with a little help from us, of course." She gave the cheeky smile that she'd practiced in the mirror, then popped the top off the can.

Fizzy drink geysered up out of the can, to her utter mortification. It fountained over her nice new blouse, over her shoes-and over the buyer.

For a moment, she just stood there, drenched. Everyone at the table was staring at her. And not in a good way.

"Well," their head man said, "I think that we'll have to…turn down your offer, miss. And I'll bill your firm for a new suit."

……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

"Could you give me the-" The Walker turned from the counter, leaving her sentence unfinished.

_What was that? Something…_

"What now, dear?"  
"Oh." Called back to the moment, she turned towards the woman again.

"Six of the honey scones, please, to take. And the bill for the Harkness party."

"Right you are."

The Walker allowed her eyes to rove over the room as she waited. She could have sworn that something had changed in Time, twinged in her senses. But everything looked fine. She shook her head to rid herself of the lingering sensation of unease. Paying the woman, she turned away.

Outside, the rest of the group was waiting for her. The humans were quite a bit more at ease than they had been at first, relaxed and talking. Though all three of them appeared to have been under quite a bit of stress recently. It showed around their eyes.

Looking at her, the Doctor quirked an eyebrow.

"Something up?"

She glanced at him. "What? Oh, no. I simply haven't adjusted to being this close to the Rift, I suppose."

"Ha!" Jack laughed, "I don't think anybody 'adjusts' to the rift. They just survive."

"Always throws you something new." Ianto agreed placidly.

"Yes." The Walker murmured to herself, "I suppose so."

With a last glance at the café, she turned and followed the others.


	3. Chapter 3

3

Outside of Mr. Forbe's grocery, there was a tin can. Danny squinted, holding his slingshot out for a better aim. The wood was cool in his fingers. He'd had to beg his mum for this slingshot for the longest time. The soda can he'd found to use for a target just sat there, daring him to hit it. He pulled back the band, and let fly.

Danny sucked in his breath as he watched the stone. His aim was a little off, not much off, but it was way too close to the shop window. He breathed again when the rock hit the brick wall and rattled down the alley. Mum would have killed him if he'd hit the window. Good thing that…what was going on? The ground was all wobbly, and he couldn't see right-where was he? Where was his mum? Everything bounced and wobbled like Jello and then…

Danny squinted, holding his slingshot out for a better aim. The wood was cool in his fingers. He'd had to beg his mum for this slingshot for the longest time. The soda can he'd found to use for a target just sat there, daring him to hit it. He pulled back the band, and let fly.

Danny sucked in his breath as he watched the stone fly. His aim was a little off, not much off, but it was way too close to the shop window. Oh please, oh please, oh please don't hit the-

CRASH!

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Inside the Hub, there was laughter

"So where do you find black holes?"

Jack crossed his arms as he leaned back in his chair. He looked more like himself when he smiled, the Doctor thought. There hadn't been enough of that from Jack today.

"Where?"

"In black socks."

Jenny's brow creased at the chorus of groans. "What?"

The rest of the group smiled at the confusion on her face. The mood in Jack's station had turned jovial, and a good thing too. Everyone in the Torchwood team had been too grim when they'd arrived. Especially Jack, despite his roguish façade. He seemed to have grown somber in the last fifty years. Strain showed in the cant of his shoulders and the set of his jaw these days. Life had probably been rough on his group after that last Dalek attack a year ago, too. Though of course, the Doctor reminded himself as he sat back, it had been only three months ago for them. They were probably still picking up the pieces here on Earth, which might account for the tension in all three Torchwood members. It was good to see Jack loosening up again as he sat and laughed with Jenny. He had been delighted to find out that Jenny collected jokes, though the ones she'd come up with so far made the Doctor seriously consider going through the Libraries and clearing out all the books she'd been getting material from. But he had to admit that they did do the job of breaking the ice. Jack's subordinate, who'd been introduced as Ianto, had relaxed in the last hour as well, and dropped his butler-like manner. He sat close beside Jack now, and every once in a while they exchanged a glance or a brush of the hand that made the Doctor smile. Now if Jack's other agent would leave off her typing and join the group they'd have quite a little party going.

"If that's the level we're going to, I've got one." Jack said with a grin. "What goes bang thud, bang thud, bang thud, bang thud, bang thud, bang thud, bang thud, bang thud, bang thud, bang thud, bang thud, bang thud, bang thud?"

"What?" Jenny and Ianto asked simultaneously. Jack shrugged. "Time Lord committing suicide."

Two heartfelt groans went up from the Doctor and the Walker.

"Oh, you would have to teach her that old bit, wouldn't you?" The Doctor said. Jack shrugged again, smiling complacently.

"Seemed to fit the circumstances. I think you taught me that one, Doctor."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "I taught you that when I was in my ninth regeneration and full of hyper-vodka. Your fault, incidentally. I would have taught anyone anything in that condition."

Jack's grin turned wicked. "Could have taught me a few more things."

"Jack, really…"

"Sorry Doc. You left yourself wide open for that."

"Okay, why did the cat fall off the roof?"

"Why?"

Jenny grinned. "Because it lost its mu."

The Walker shook her head, grinning. The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Oh, please tell me a daughter of mine did not just tell one of the worst physics jokes in existence."

"Oi! It was a good joke!" She glanced at Ianto, who was looking at her with a frown.

"Lost its mu?"

Beside him, the Walker nodded. "Mu. Coefficient of friction. Without it objects have no grip."

"Oh." Ianto said, nodding in a way that showed he had completely no idea what that meant. Jack shook his head.

"I'd throw that one out if I were you."

"You're right." Jenny admitted. She tipped her head to the side, studying Jack for a moment. "Will you teach me some jokes?"

"He won't if he knows what's good for him." the Doctor commented darkly. "There are things in Jack's head that no intelligence should _ever_ be subjected to. Trust me on this, you really don't want to learn any jokes out of him."

"He knows a few good limericks too." Ianto said, his face deadpan. The Doctor's eyes widened in dismay.

"Oh no. Oh no no no, no limericks, I absolutely forbid limericks, especially anything starting with 'there once was a man…', and _anything_ referring to sweet Asian girls in large green-"

The squeak of the computer chair wheels cut through the air as Gwen pushed herself back from the keyboards she'd been typing at, whipping around to face the group.

"Can you all just shut it? I'm trying to get this damn system to work again an' all your wittering isn't helping, it really isn't!"

Her words shattered the air like glass, leaving them staring as Gwen turned and began to type again. The Doctor watched her, his dark eyes wide. The note in her voice had been as close to the borderline of hysteria as he'd ever heard. He'd known that Jack's team was under strain, he could see that a mile off, but it seemed to be quite a bit worse than he'd thought.

Across from him, Jack stood, his face falling into implacable lines. He stepped over to stand behind his subordinate.

"Gwen."

The wiry woman typed feverishly.

"Gwen." This time Jack's deep voice was woven with a note of command. Gwen turned, meeting Jack's eyes with an expression that reminded the Doctor of a snared rabbit. Jack held her gaze.

"Relax."

The woman stared up at him. Then she nodded, drawing a long breath.

"Course. Right. Sorry, Jack." After a moment of awkward silence, she glanced over her shoulder. "Sorry, everybody."

"Ah, no need for apologies." The Doctor threw out in his best light-hearted tone, trying to resuscitate the mood. "Technology can drive anyone into fits once in a while."

"Yeah." Jenny added, picking up on what he was trying to do. "You should see Father kicking the console when the TARDIS gives him grief."

"Oi! Percussive maintenance!"

"You look like you're having fits."

"I do not!"

Out of the corner of his eye, the Doctor watched Gwen, and was relieved to see her smile at their sparring. Well, that was a good sign anyway. But he was going to have to talk to Jack. From the looks of it he was running his people to their breaking point, which was bad all round. He really ought to find a few more agents and share the load.

As the Doctor kept up the banter with his daughter, his granddaughter stood, peering at the computer screens.

"What seems to be the matter with your system?"

Gwen glanced up at her. "Mostly it's just bullocksed, is what it is. For starters I'm no good on computers, an' this bloody thing's got more encryption and safeties than you'd believe. We can get access to our basic systems, do internet searches and such, but the rest's locked down; city records and tracking, crime and disappearance rates, our vault records and just about every file on alien-erm- about…"

"Alien activity." Jack put in. "Don't be shy, Gwen. We've got a file on the Doctor thicker than an Encyclopedia and he knows it."

"S'allright, I got my own file on Jack." The Doctor said, tapping his forehead. Another thing for him to talk to Jack about, he reminded himself. He wanted no record of either his daughter or his granddaughter in any files. Bad enough that the information from the Earth intelligence groups had been used to track him before. He wanted absolutely nothing around that could be used against the girls.

"Hm." The Walker murmured, oblivious to the banter. "And none of you have gotten into it? I'd think you'd be familiar with advanced computer systems in your original timeframe." She said, glancing at Jack. He shrugged, hooking his thumbs in his suspenders.

"Doesn't mean I'm a genius. Gwen has more perseverance than either of us boys, which is why she's still working on it."

The Walker nodded, considering. "I might be able to do a bit. May I give it a try?"

Gwen looked up in surprise, then shot the merest hint of a glance at Jack, who nodded imperceptibly. "Sure. Be my guest." She stood, relinquishing her seat at the keyboards. Nodding, the Walker took her place, studying the system for a moment. Good girl. Get a feel for the workings first. She typed a few phrases, then began working quickly, scrolling through the data. Ever the helper, the Walker was. Always stepping in and making the tactful offers.

"Are you reading that?" Gwen asked incredulously.

"Mm." the young woman affirmed, eyes fixed on the screen. "And I see what you mean about the encryptions-hmm…this may take a fair amount of time."

Perfect. This would give him the chance to talk over the issues that needed addressing.

"Well," the Doctor said, pushing himself out of his chair "That's all right then, 'cause there are a few things I saw in your vaults I wanted a look at anyway. Some of the things I saw in there looked decidedly nasty. And what was in that largest section?"

"Technology we don't have any information on." Jack replied. The Doctor looked at him in surprised dismay.

"You've got that many unknown bits and bobs hanging about? Now that we've got to fix. And it looks like you lot could use a hand in here anyhow, so p'rhaps we'll stay on for a bit, help you sort things out. That all right, girls? Good." The Doctor spun on his heel. "So, Jack, off to the vaults, shall we?"

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Jenny watched the Walker type away. It had been three hours since she had started, and aside from a few sighs and smiles she had barely moved. Father was still down in the vaults. Which left her sitting with no assignment. Bored. She spun slightly in her chair, her eyes roving over the machinery and objects in the room, studying. Interesting setup they'd worked out here. They even had their own med bay in a sunken chamber. Nice.

She glanced to the side as Gwen walked into the room, carrying two cups.

"D'you want a cup of coffee at all? Ianto just made more."

The Walker shook her head slightly. "No, thank you, I'm quite well."

She spoke such a funny kind of English, Jenny thought. It was like her Gallifreyan was bleeding through, so that she chose only the most precise words. It had made the older girl fit in perfectly when they'd gone to see the opening of the Crystal Palace in 1853, while she'd spent most of her time keeping her mouth shut. She glanced at Gwen, who was still looking at them. Maybe she could get some sort of conversation started. "You seem to take in a lot of caffeine. Ever upset your adrenal function?"

Gwen stared back at her for a long moment. "Erm…don't think so." She set the cups down on a desk, and stared at them again. Nervousness, confusion and a hint of wariness came off her like scents in the air.

"I'll just…go and work up some papers. Unless you need any-"

"Hah!!" The Walker grinned triumphantly. "I've got in! About time too."

"Which programs did you make it into?" Jenny asked, stepping over to study the system. It showed columns of dates and names, with a sidebar of charts. Jenny's eyes ran over it. Suicides. Violent assaults. Missing person reports. Accidents.

"It seems to be the city records. From here I should be able to access many of the other systems. But it'll take time, unfortunately."

"Can I give you a hand with any of it?"

"No, no. It's easier for me to work alone, thank you."

Jenny nodded, watching the numbers and names scroll by. She glanced at Gwen.

"Summer must be a bad time for you lot."

"Wha? Why?" The eyes that met her were startled, but sharp, too. Jenny pointed at the figures. "I was just looking at your intelligence. Your accident, suicide and missing person rates all shot up in the last month. Almost two percent on all three. Must be rough."

"What? Let me see."

The woman stepped over, staring fixedly at the pictures. Attention and wariness radiated off her.

"Is that not normal for your summer times?" Jenny asked, slightly surprised.

"Normal?" Gwen replied, "I'll say it's not bloody normal. Crime rates dip and rise, but the other figures don't usually change for th' whole city. Can you get into the maps, see where the rates are highest?"

"Not yet." The Walker replied. "I'll try to open those next."

"Damn." Gwen murmured distractedly, "'S weird. Jack ought to know this." She turned towards the stairs that led to the Vault. Jenny glanced at the woman, then back at the Walker.

_Hey Walker?_

"Hmm?"

_I'm going with her. See what's going on._

_Sounds sensible. Tell Grandfather not to start running the place if he's trying. It's a terrible habit of his."_

Jenny grinned as she turned on her heel and jumped down the stairs.

"Hey Gwen, lemme come with you."

_I'll remind him._

It was really fun having somebody around who knew her father's quirks as well as she did, somebody who she could laugh with about them. Though Father was just a little different when the Walker was around. He was a little less childish, maybe, and used fewer colloquialisms, so his speech sounded a little more like hers. He acted a little more…maybe dignified was the right word. The Walker was always so dignified and graceful. She was really good at driving a TARDIS too, almost as good as Father. Between the two of them they'd managed to land her TARDIS right inside of his, which was pretty damn cool. And her Gallifreyan was perfect.

Gwen pushed a door open, glancing inside.

"Must've gone further in. C'mon."

Jenny followed, musing. Of course it made sense that she spoke so well. She'd actually grown up on Gallifrey, gone to school there. Sometime soon she was going to get up the guts to ask the Walker all about Gallifrey. Jenny had read all the books on it. But there was a big difference between reading about somewhere and hearing what kind of games kids played and what you smelled when you walked the streets. Those were the kinds of things she didn't have the guts to ask Father, because she hated the way his eyes clouded over when she did.

Voices echoed along the rows of steel shelves.

"Bilis? Bilis Manger…no, can't say I've heard the name…course it's easy to change a name. What's he do?"

"Caused a lot of trouble for us last year. Considering what he did and what he could do with time, I thought you might have heard of him."

"Oh? What's he-" The Doctor glanced over Jack's shoulder.

"Oh. Hello! Got into the computer systems already then?"

"Not all the way, but something's come up." Gwen said shortly. She turned to her Captain. "Jack, something's off with the city records. Death, accident, suicide rates are all shooting up in the last two months. Could be a real problem."

"Up?"

"Almost two percent."

Jack nodded, his face unreadable.

"Could be coincidence. I'll check it later. Don't worry about it for now."

Jenny turned, glancing at the woman beside her in surprise. Anger was suddenly radiating off her, prickly with an undercurrent of fear and anxiety.

"Jack, you remember what happened last time you told me not to worry about our readings?" She said sharply, looking her superior in the eye.

Father and daughter glanced at each other.

_Wow, is she over-stressed._

_Too right._

Jack glared back at his subordinate. "I said later, Gwen. The Doctor and I are going to get the Vaults cleaned up while he's around to give me a hand, and I don't want to waste his time. When the rest of the systems open up, we'll look at it then."

Gwen opened her mouth indignantly, then closed it again, nodding sharply. "Fine. I have too much work to do anyway. How much you still got down here?"

Jack glanced at the Doctor, who shrugged.

"Oh, I dunno, maybe four hours or so, maybe's much as eight. In the meantime, Jenny, what're you going to do? Help the Walker out?"

In the back of her head, there was a nudge. She shook her head.

"No, she's capable of doing the work alone. I'm fully unassigned."

"You mean you're at odd ends?" Her father said dryly. He was always trying to fix her syntax and get rid of the military terminology. She nodded.

"Yep."

"Well then," her father said, clapping his hands, " I want you to go and see Cardiff, learn a bit of the city. We'll be landing here fairly often, and I want you to know the lay of the land. Lovely little town, even before the Great Spire gets built-" He glanced at the Torchwood members quickly, "Oops, forget about that, you two. Anyway, go on and get out and about. Of course, you'll need a guide. Gwen, you mind taking her around? Lovely."

"Ah, sorry, I can't-"

"Go on, Gwen." Jack said, glancing at the Doctor's unassuming expression. There was just a hint of amusement in his voice. Gwen stared at him, wide-eyed.

"Jack, I can't-"

"Think of it as an assignment; you're serving as alien ambassador to Cardiff. Take her to see the shops maybe. Jenny, what kind of things do you like? Clothes? Music? Lingerie?"

"_Jack_!"

Jack grinned at the scandalized look on the Doctor's face, then turned back to Gwen.

"Find something interesting. Now get going."

Over Jack's shoulder, the Doctor shot Jenny a wink.

_Perfect. This'll get her out and away from work, take her mind off of things. Do what you can to help her loosen up a bit, will you?_

_Sure, Father._

_Brilliant._

"Fine." Gwen was saying, sharply. She glared at Jenny with an expression that brought all her defensive instincts into play.

"Come on then."

For a moment, despite her curiosity about the new town, Jenny wasn't sure if it wouldn't have been better to sit around bored. But she had her assignment. Her father had organized everything to his taste. Running things, following his terrible bad habit. Smiling to herself, she followed Gwen.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

"Thanks, Doc."

"Didn't do anything, Jack."

"Doctor, don't try modesty. It doesn't work on you."

"Not modest? Me? Are you saying I'm not modest? I stopped the Black Plague once, but do you hear a word about it from me? Oh no, never a word." The Doctor pulled an object from the metal box in front of him and held it up to the light, examining it."This thing's a neural emission dampener off ZXsensa."

"Dangerous?"

"Nah. The ZXe use it like marijuana; if I remember right it just makes a human laugh and fall over a lot. Actually might be good for your crew at the mo, now that I think about it. By the by, now that we're alone, tell me what's been happening to put you all under such a lot of strain, eh?"

"Well, now that we're alone…."

The Time Lord rolled his eyes. "Jack."

Jack smirked, but the frivolity faded away as he pulled another sealed metal container from the wall.

"Some of my past caught up to me. And my team got stuck in the middle of it."

"Bad, I take it." The Doctor said, wrinkling his nose at another object and setting it aside. He missed the flash of pain that swept over Jack's face.

"You could say that."

The Doctor glanced at Jack, gauging him. But Jack had always been exceptionally good at covering his emotions. For a human.

They worked in quiet efficiency for nearly half an hour, cataloguing and classifying objects. Every so often the Doctor would set an item aside in a small but steadily growing pile of things that he wasn't leaving on Earth, even in the best of hands. He undid the lock and pulled the lid from another steel box, peering inside warily. He'd already been bitten by a hibernating Teaope earlier, and was none too keen on a repeat performance.

What he saw inside this container made him react almost as much as the bite had.

"Oh!! Would you look at this lil' beauty!" Grinning, he pulled out a squat cylinder a little longer than his hand and thicker than his wrist, which appeared to be made up mostly of wires.

"Prototype sonic screwdriver! Oh, this must be the great great however many great grandfa-" The Doctor stopped for a moment, peering at the tube. "Hang on…this's all wrong. Looks like this was made right around now, or not long before."

"Three years ago." Jack said shortly. The Doctor's eyes met his, puzzled.

"Did you-"

Jack shook his head.

"Tosh did. One of the best I'd ever seen."

"Tosh." The Doctor hadn't heard that name before.

"Toshiko Sato, pride of Torchwood Three." Jack said on a long breath. He wasn't hiding his emotions now. "Computer whiz, technician, creative genius, all around romantic optimist. Lost her four months ago."

"Computer whiz." The Doctor said softly. Some of the pieces fell into place in his head. "She was the one who put your computer system together, wasn't she? That's why you couldn't get in."

Jack was looking in his direction, but his eyes lacked focus. "Yep. Like I said, one of the best."

So that was it. Loss and trauma. That was what had Jack's team on emotional near-shutdown.

The Doctor nodded, his face somber. "I'm so sorry, Jack."

Jack turned away, running a hand over the stacked boxes.

"We work a risky business. Sometimes it catches up to us. You know how that goes, Doc."

"You could have called me, you know. I might've been able to help."

Jack glanced at him with an expression that the Doctor couldn't quite read, and turned his back again.

For a time, there was silence. More items were catalogued and described in the Doctor's slightly scrawly hand. He had never gotten the English letters quite right; they still came out more circular than anything.

Jack's voice was almost a surprise when it rang in the silence.

"Doctor?"

The Doctor glanced up.

"If we're talking about things that should have been said, why didn't you tell me you had kids?"

"Didn't get around to it, maybe," the Doctor said lightly, "I'm nine hundred and six years old. I've got a lot of life behind me; you're not going to know every detail of it. Besides, I didn't have them when I met you. Jenny was only born five years ago, give or take a few months, I told you about that. So I didn't have a daughter then."

But Jack wasn't letting him off that easy. "What about your granddaughter? We've called you the Last Time Lord as long as I've known you, but all that time, you had a granddaughter."

The words 'why didn't you tell me?' seemed to hang in the air. The Doctor sighed, looking back at Jack in exasperation. Surely he of all people should be able to understand.

"Jack, I didn't tell you about her, and I didn't tell anyone else. I didn't actually know she'd survived until a few months after I regenerated last time, and after that, well, why does everybody need to know?"

"Why wasn't she with you?"

The Doctor shrugged.

"Ah, Walker's three-eighty and some. That's full-grown by our standards. She deserves at least a chance to go off an' live her own kind of life, not rattle around the universe with this ol' codger." He picked up another object, barely noting what it was.

"And I don't want every two-bit warlord, nutball and rough customer going after her t' get at me. I've had enough of that. I can protect my daughter, or try anyway, by keeping her with me until she knows everything she needs to know. I can keep my granddaughter safe by keeping a secret."

For a moment, their eyes caught and held. Then Jack's full lips quirked in a smile.

"No worries, Doc. Secret's safe."

The Doctor nodded slowly. "Thank you, Jack."

Then they turned back to the work at hand. More to do. For himself and Jack, there would always be more to do.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

She hadn't expected it, but Jenny was having a pretty good time. Gwen had driven them to a place she'd called 'St. Davie's' which turned out to be a large shopping mall. There were people everywhere, a swirl of clothing and hair styles, personalities, needs and prerogatives. The air was full of smells; perfumes and fried food and fruit, endorphins, the smell of rubber and air conditioning ducts and just a hint of cleaning supplies under all the other scents. She took it in with interest, glancing from one store to another.

"So," Gwen said slowly, "You want to look for anything in particular, or just window shop?"

Jenny shrugged. "Hm, just look around. This is a pretty neat place. I like the architecture."

"You ever been to a mall before then?"

Jenny nodded, peering into a book store with interest.

"Yep. They have them on a couple of the stations we've landed on."

"Space stations." She added, glancing at Gwen's perplexed expression. "And there are bazaars and the like all over timespace. Last one we went to was a pretty cool outdoor market on Rekatash."

"Ah." Gwen nodded. Was that still puzzlement in her voice? Jenny shrugged it off. If she didn't ask her questions, Jenny couldn't really answer them. Too bad, really; that might have started a decent line of conversation going. As it was, they just walked along awkwardly, until Jenny noticed a display of chocolates in a store window. She grinned. "A chocolate shop! I love chocolate!" She started to jog for the little shop, but checked herself, waiting for her escort.

They bought treats, and sat on small benches outside Thorton's to eat. Jenny slurped at her fudge brownie sundae. She loved it when they landed on planets that had chocolate.

"Don't get much for sweets then, do you?" Gwen asked. Finally, there was a hint of amusement in her voice. Jenny shrugged, taking another bite.

"Not-mm-not a lot of places have chocolate. And we eat what's on the TARDIS pretty fast, so I don't get it very often."

"What, all the places you go to and you don't pick up chocolate?"

"We do, but like I said, it gets consumed almost the day we buy it. That and the jam. I blame Father for that."

"Guess blokes are the same everywhere then. My man Rhys does the same thing with the ice cream." Gwen smiled slightly, taking a bite of her small chocolate bar. She glanced at Jenny.

"Does your fellow like chocolate too?"

"My fellow?"

"Your husband-or mate, or whatever you call it."

Jenny cocked her head.

"I don't have a mate."

"Oh? Single mum, then. Sorry, don't mean to bring up anything."

Jenny didn't know what that was supposed to mean. But at least the woman was talking.

"So…" Gwen dropped her voice-"I heard about that regeneration thing you lot can do. When'd you last do it?"

"Me? Never. I'm in my first body still."

"Oh…" the woman stared at her, more puzzled than ever. "Sorry, I just kind of guessed, what with…I mean…."

"What?"

"Well…you sorta look younger than your daughter. Got some super face lift tech out there?"

Jenny stared at the human for a long moment, her brow furrowed. Then she let out a laugh.

"I'm not the Walker's _mother_."

Gwen stared at her with those big dark eyes as Jenny giggled. She might as well have had 'what the hell?' plastered on her forehead.

"Oh-but-erm…"

Jenny got a hold of herself enough to answer. "Sorry, it's just funny, you thinking I was the Walker's _mum_. She's about three centuries ahead of me. Almost four."

"But your dad said that you're his daughter, an' she's his…"

"She is, and I am. He had kids before me. The Walker's actually…I'd guess she'd be my niece." She grinned at Gwen, crossing her arms in front of her on the table.

"And if I look old enough to have a three-hundred year old kid, I hope there is some sort of face lift out there. Otherwise I'm done for."

Finally, Gwen cracked a grin. Then she began to laugh, loud and long.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Benny Holmes was a good runner. He had two strong wiry legs that carried him way faster than most eleven-year-olds could go. It was great on the track, but it was even better on the streets. Right now his fast feet were flying across pavement and now, with a leap, over asphalt. The crosswalk said 'do not cross', but the things were always a little slower than the light change. If you ran quick, no problem.

Benny jumped the median. Uh-oh. This light change was faster than most. The cars were already zooming down the pavement. Well, okay, put on an extra bit of a turn. His shoes slammed the road as he dashed across and leaped for the curve. Whew. Made it, and not a minute to spare. The cars honked as they zoomed by. Benny grinned, and took a step.

Only his foot couldn't seem to find the ground. He teetered, nearly toppled into-the road? Or into his mom's garden? No, stupid, that was this morning…or this afternoon…or…

Benny Holmes was a good runner. He had two strong wiry legs. Right now his fast feet were flying across pavement and now, with a leap, over asphalt. The crosswalk said 'do not cross', but they were always a little slower than the light change. Just gotta be quicker than they were, is all.

Benny jumped the median. Uh-oh. This light change was faster than most. The cars were already zooming down the pavement. Well, okay, put on an extra bit of a turn. His shoes slammed the road as he dashed across. His feet came down. But his left sneaker skidded under him. Pinwheeling, Benny pitched to the asphalt, dazed, completely winded. The cars honked. They were so loud close up. That and the screech of tires.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

Gwen smiled at the pretty girl walking beside her. Taking this girl around really wasn't too bad at all. In fact it was actually turning out to be a real good time. The sun was shining overhead when they left St. Davie's and took off to tour one of the street markets. It was nice when work allowed you to feel like a normal girl, and not all that common in her line of duty. She glanced at Jenny, who was staring at a roundabout. If you didn't know to look, you'd never guess that either she or her father were from another planet, never mind another time period.

"That looks like a pretty impractical way to direct the flow of traffic." Jenny mused out loud. "How do you lot cope with it?"

"We honk the horn a lot and try not to hit anyone." Gwen said, only half-joking. Jenny nodded.

"Yeah, I guess that works. Kind of nerve wracking though, isn't it?"

Gwen laughed. "Living in Cardiff is nerve-wracking. The traffic you get used to."

She was surprised to hear her own laughter. It had been a long time since she felt like laughing much. But today was really a good day, and it felt good to be out in it.

Beside her, Jenny's laughter stopped. She turned, staring again at the street, her brow furrowing. Gwen looked her over, curious.

"What's-"

The screech of tires crashed into her ears. Both girl and woman turned in time to see a boy running, running-falling, the wheels of a car rolling over him.

"Oh." Gwen gasped, horrified. Beside her, Jenny took a few loping steps forward, her eyes huge. Gwen hurried to catch her up.

"No, don't. We can't do anything." She was going to say more, decide what they should do. But when Jenny turned, the look in her eyes froze Gwen's words on her tongue.

"_No._" the girl said, half to herself. The emotion in her voice hit Gwen like a blow.

"_No. _It's not supposed to _be_ this way. It's _wrong."_

Snapping her head around, Jenny stared straight into Gwen's face, her eyes wide.

"We need to go, we need to go back. _Now_. I have to tell Father. We have to go _now_. _Right now._" Then she turned on her heel, and took off running down the street.


	4. Chapter 4

4

The Doctor stood up straight, his brow creasing. Jack glanced at him, but before he'd said a word the Doctor had set down the tool in his hand, taking off down the corridor.

"Jenny?" he called out as he entered the main Hub.

"Father!" Jack came into the room just as Gwen and her charge stepped off the lift. The pale girl ran up to her father, nearly skidding to a stop in front of him.

"Father, there's been a serious chronologically related incident in the city." Her eyes were wide, and the tone of her voice made Jack's muscles tense. Trouble. "You have to come. We've got to fix this. Come on-"

The Doctor held up a hand. "Woah, hold up a bit. What's this? Chronologically related incident?"

Jenny drew a deep breath. "We were out in the street, just walking around. And then…" She stared at him for a long moment as if searching for words, then dropped into another language, all lilting sounds and rolled consonants. Jack stared. That was the Doctor's original language; he'd heard it before. Only a few times, mostly when the Doctor cursed. He'd never heard a real conversation in that tongue.

The Doctor listened as his daughter spoke, eyebrows rising. "So, what you're saying is that you saw the boy's timeline switched?" He asked, this time in English. Great. At least Jack would be able to keep up with some of the conversation. The girl gave a sharp nod.

"Essentially. I saw him reach the curb and walk down the street-and then it _changed_, and he didn't make it, he fell, and one of the vehicles… ran him over. But it was all off; it was just _weird_, this second timeline. Just _wrong._ It wasn't one of the main timelines. It shouldn't have happened."

"Doc?" Jack asked warily, "What's up?"

"Jenny has seen something problematic with a few timelines here in town." The Time Lord replied absently, watching his daughter. "Now, did they warp, or just switch outright?"

Jenny shrugged. "Looked like a direct change from one to the other. But the boy's actions weren't the catalyst. It was-it was like something pulled the proper timeline out from under him and stuck that one in."

"Give me a look, can you?"

Jenny nodded, meeting her father's eyes. They both became still, gazes locked.

"What're they doing?" Gwen whispered.

"Memory sharing." Jack said softly. "Jenny's showing the Doctor what she saw."

"They can do that?"

"Time Lords can do a hell of a lot of things you wouldn't expect, Gwen. Even-"

"Jack, d'you mind, we rather need a bit of quiet." The Doctor said. Then his dark eyes grew wide.

"Oh. This is not good. Not good at all."

"You recognize the attack tactic?" Jenny asked, her head cocked.

"In general, yes, in specific no." the Doctor said quickly, turning on his heel "And it's not attacking. It's feeding."

Then he was doing a quick trot towards his ship, his daughter on his heels. Great. Just what they needed, another problem in this city.

Gwen was staring at him. So with a shrug, he followed the Doctor. Just like old times.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The Walker glanced up, startled as the TARDIS door opened. Now when had Grandfather learned to open the doors without touching them?

The expression on her grandfather's face banished her idle wondering. "What's wrong?" she asked as he jogged through the door, sparing her barely a glance.

"Problem." He said sharply, "Bi-ig problem. Big nasty problem. Just hope there hasn't been any breeding yet, maybe there's only one or two or so as of yet, with any luck it'll be the trackable sort-trackable? Is that a word?" He glanced at her, his eyes barely focused, then shook his head and bounded to the console.

The Walker watched him dash around the control panels of his ship, nonplussed.

"What is he on about?" she said aloud.

"Something bad." Jenny replied, stepping up beside her. "I saw something bad out in the city, and when I showed it to Father, he took off."

"What was it?"

Jenny shook her head. "Dunno. I couldn't identify it. Couldn't stop it." The younger girl's eyes were fixed straight ahead. Her soldier pose. She must be upset if she was falling back on it.

"What was it like?" the Walker asked gently. Jenny glanced at her, opened her mouth, and shut it again.

_Here. Look._

Always so direct. The Walker watched the memory behind Jenny's eyes. Watched as the child hit the curb. Watched as the timelines around him convulsed, and the main timeline that was his future seemed to snap. It was as if somebody had cut the boy's tapestry of life and woven in a new path. The Walker flinched internally as that path abruptly ended in a screech of tires, along with the memory.

"Oh my."

"More or less what I said." The Doctor commented. "But if we act fast, we can fix it right off, rapido no problemo. Jenny, I need the exact coordinates you were at when you saw it. Come and pick the spot out on the map."

"Right." Jenny said. She broke eye contact, looking over her shoulder, where the leader of the Torchwood group-Jack, his name was-was walking in. His subordinate took two small steps inside, her eyes huge.

"What in the 'ell…" she turned in a circle, staring. "Rhys is never gonna believe this one." She murmured after a long moment. "How…"

"Dimensional transcendence." Jenny said as she touched the map on the monitor. Gwen stared at her a moment. "If you say so."

She actually took it rather well, the Walker thought distantly. Most humans acted a little more disoriented.

What could switch timelines like that? There were one or two technologies, but this behaved all wrong. Some sort of problem associated with rifts, perhaps?

"Oh come on." Her grandfather growled, staring at the main monitor as he pressed switches. "You've got to find it, it's a big giant timeline anomaly right under your…oh…cept there's the Rift …another anomaly right under your nose." The Doctor straightened with a sigh. "Guess that means we'll be tracking on foot."

"Tracking what, Doc?"

The Doctor turned his back on the console to look at Jack.

"Well, best as I can guess, it's a time worm. One of the Trickster's favorite little pets."

A time worm. Of course! She should have recalled those little monsters.

"Time worm." Jack repeated. "And it caused what Jenny's talking about?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"Timeline splice in most species. Seems to be the same in this one. Though this seems to be one of the active hunters, not the ambush predators."

"One of?" Jack asked, crossing his arms over his chest. The Doctor nodded. "Yes, see when I say time worm it's like saying shark; it's a family of species. This one seems to have a very nice camouflage setup if nobody saw it even during the attack. Mm. We'll need to move fast, fast as fast, get it before it breeds. Tracking'll be difficult for you humans, won't be much easier for us I can tell you. We'll have to slap together something that can sense under the rift energy; I mean there's us but that'd mean a lucky run in with its next meal, that's how close we'll need to be to feel the change. Jenny, how close-"

"Directly across the street."

"And how does it make the timeline change?"Jack asked.

"Come up here and I'll show you." The Doctor replied quickly. In a moment the two men were standing side by side.

"I've got a database of these little buggers, now we'll just have to go through it and find the one that fits what Jenny saw. In general they're the type to pull this number-but that species…Jenny, anything like a small windstorm when it hit?"

"No."

"Right, not that one then."

"Any chance I can get a copy of this database?'  
"Oh I don't see why not, s'long as we're about it. These things are attracted by rifts as well as by species like yours. Lots of choices made everyday consciously, but not a lot of control over Time. Perfect if you're one of these little buggies."

"Any signatures of their presence?"

"You won't see the obvious ones."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

"Is that more like it?"

"Yeah, except it never became visible."

"Well, narrows it down anyway. Try this one."

Jenny looked over the readings and images. After a moment, she tapped the screen.

"It's either this one or that one. Seems right."

The Doctor nodded, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"Mm. That's not good. Not good, no, not at all. Neither species is easily tracked. Looks like we've got a bit of work ahead."

Nobody said it, but everybody was at combat positions. Jenny thought they made a pretty good unit. While she and Father figured out what species they were after, Ianto and the Walker got the computers back up so they could view the maps of the city and maybe use them in tracking later. Jack was checking over his store of time sensitive devices, and Gwen was rechecking possible weapons. The good news was that they did know what they were after now. The bad news was that it was a species that her father couldn't track, and their eyes couldn't see. She hated going up against camouflage artists like this thing.

"Actually one of nature's most artistic bits of engineering." Her father was saying, "See, these things are pretty much insects, but natural selection's given them this amazing camouflage. Some species use hypnosis and thought control, but this one took the organic route, 's got a shell with a covering of tiny little pockets of silicate and quartz, each attached to a little nerve that attaches to what they've got for a spinal cord. These little pockets can act as tiny reflectors, taking the image from one side of the body, rerouting it, and reflecting or projecting it on the other side. Perfect invisibility; even better than the stuff J.K. Rowling writes."

Sometimes Father could get so far into admiring something that he forgot it was the enemy, Jenny mused. Well, at least she was around to keep him from going too far off into his own head. He stared at the screen for another moment. Then like a bolt of electricity he spun around and took off for the ship interior.

"Tracking devices!"

Jenny loped behind her father down the corridors. Finally, something was really happening.

Ten minutes later, he was standing in the structure the humans called the Hub, hands full of small discs, giving his briefing.

"Right, a time worm's a tricky thing to deal with. These devices can sense sudden and unusual changes in timelines, only problem is they give a fair number of false positives. I'm going to do a bit of tinkering, reroute the information through your computers and synch it to your maps so that we can have a concise attack plot going. Walker, you'll have to give me a hand with that. Jenny, I'll need you to do a bit of rerouting through the main data banks. Jack, your people know this city best, so they'll be the scouts, outside doing the tracking. Now, I want you to keep the devices on these two settings. The first will pick up any activity in your vicinity, and the second will pick up traces of recent activity. You set it like so…"

"Father, I'd rather join the tracking-"

"I'm sure you would, but I need you downstairs taking my input and working the data. So, think I've got everything…yep, that sets things up." He handed tracking discs to the three humans.

"Let's get to it, shall we?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Ianto looked up from his half-cleaned gun as the Hub door opened. Gwen dropped heavily into the chair beside his desk.

"Are you almost ready?

Gwen nodded.

"Something wrong?"

"Just the whole damn city falling to bits. Nothing new there." Gwen muttered. Her coworker's eyebrows rose.

"Last time we hunted something like this, you couldn't wait to get moving when the Captain gave the order."

"Yeah? But apparently Jack won't be giving orders today. Seems the Doctor's doing all the talking. An' all cause his daughter pitched a fit."

"Oh?"

Gwen sighed.

"This all started when I had her walking 'round one of the outside malls, an' a kid tried to J-walk, got hit by a car. It was… it's always nasty, but the girl went nuts, an' took off runnin'."

"Did she tell you what was wrong?"

"She didn't say a damn thing. Just kept saying she had to talk to her dad all through the drive back here. Wouldn't tell me what the hell what she was on about. An' then between the telepathy or whatever they used an' the Doctor talking in other languages an going on about a load of things all at once an' Jack asking questions about all kinds of things I've got no damn clue what's going on. Time worm, time lines, what's that supposed to be? We've got no bloody information to go on." She sighed. "An' I don' like that doctor telling Jack what to do the way he does. He just waltzes in here and acts like he owns the place."

"He is the expert on this. Jack's taking his advice." Ianto said softly.

"Yeah, an' last time one of Jack's old friends came around like that we lost half the city and both-" Gwen broke off her sentence. After a moment, she took a deep breath.

"I dunno, maybe I'm overreacting. It's just that it's weird. Jack always runs the show."

"I know." Ianto agreed, checking the barrel of his pistol."But I have to say, Jack's less tense than he's been for a long time. I think he's…having the Doctor around, some of the weight falls off him. For once there's somebody else around who can run things. Lets him relax."

Gwen glared at him, then looked away from his placid expression.

"I just wish the lot of them would bloody stop and explain. Why won't Jack tell us what's happening? Or why won't those three?"

"Partly because there's much of it you could not understand."

Both Torchwood members started, staring at the dark haired woman standing beside the door, hands in her skirt pockets.

"Y'think we don't get it?" Gwen snapped, "'Cause just because we're human doesn't mean we're thick."

"That wasn't what I said." The young woman replied calmly. "It's not your intelligence I doubt. It's simply that you don't have the senses available to us."

"An' what the hell does that mean?" Gwen replied sharply, ignoring Ianto's reproving glance. The alien woman stared at her, her head tipping slightly to the side.

"There is a problem in Time. Jenny noticed it, and now she and Grandfather are doing their best to repair it."

"So why didn't she tell me what was wrong? Torchwood runs things 'ere on Earth. We can't do that if we don' know what the 'ell is going on."

"I'm not sure she could find the words to explain the situation properly. It's not easy to conceptualize. The best corollary I can give you is that of color. Since you can see color, you can paint, draw, mark ideas and important points with color, give subtle cues and emotional prods through the use of color. But let's say you were to go blind. Or, better, that you were to be born without sight. Color would have absolutely no meaning to you, and even the concept would be difficult to grasp. Could you explain the color red to a blind man?"

Gwen and Ianto exchanged glances. Gwen shrugged. The young woman nodded.

"That's like Time. We can see it. You can't. A simple fact of biology. And it is very difficult for someone as young as Jenny to put something of such complexity into words. Let me try to explain. Time is a fabric woven by the actions of each molecule as it moves from moment to moment. On a larger scale, it takes the form of a series of actions, and choices if the object is sentient. These are time lines. Each collection of matter has lines of time that it is acting out. There are lines that are most likely to happen; main lines. Other lines exist, but these are less likely to materialize; lesser lines with low energy levels. Choices not made, I suppose you could call them. What I can tell you is that your city has been infiltrated by creatures called time worms. These animals feed by finding a sentient creature at a point where their time line forks into two; a main line and a lesser line. They splice a line of low energy in place of the high energy main line, thus releasing the main line energy, which they absorb. These lower energy lines are most often lines with a less helpful or pleasant outcome for the subject. So time worms can be quite damaging, especially in large numbers. As soon as we discover which species of worm this is, we'll be able to track and hopefully capture it. Is this what you need to know?"

Ianto nodded, wide eyed. Gwen, beside him, gave the barest nod. The Walker smiled slightly.

"Good. Then before you go, would you mind helping me carry the tea that Grandfather sent me up here for?"

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

This was going to be his day. He just knew it. He was even early for work, and he drove through beautifully light traffic. This was just bril. Ronald Dahl Pass was just ahead now.

The radio music was cut with a spate of static. He glanced at it with a little frown, but he'd change it once he was out of this tight spot in the traffic. He glanced up, and there was a blue sedan horning into his lane. There was just enough time to swerve. He glanced sharply behind him as he sped by. Bloody idiot. He could have…

What was going on? Something had to be wrong with his eyes. The whole world was swimming in front of him. He could barely see the road-damn, was that a car in front of him? If only he could focus…He blinked, blinked again…

This was going to be his day. He just knew it. He was even early for work, and he drove through beautifully light traffic. This was just bril. Ronald Dahl Pass was just ahead now.

The radio music was cut with a spate of static. He glanced at it with a little frown, then reached down to fiddle with the knob. He glanced up, and there was a blue sedan horning into his lane. There was no time to swerve.

Skree-runch!!!

He sat still, gasping. Little wisps of steam rose from the mutilated hood of his car where it met the rear of the goddamn sedan.

Maybe this wasn't going to be his day.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Another report had just come in. Jenny glanced at the information and typed it into the algorithms. The radio broadcast of the team babbled through the computer speakers.

"Jack, you can't sweep this whole bloody city with three bloody people!"

"I know it Gwen. Keep going. I'm in the Hub; I'll be back on the street in a minute."

"You better give me a raise."

"Aw Gwen, isn't my company enough for you anymore?"

Gwen made several sharp statements Jenny didn't recognize. Those must be 21st century curses; she'd have to look them up later. She punched another set of coordinates into the computer. Stuck doing data input. She couldn't believe Father had assigned her to data input. Once she'd figured out the computer systems it was boring as anything. She didn't even get to see the map down here and know where the team was deploying.

"Any luck?"

Jenny glanced over her shoulder at the Torchwood leader, who was leaning against the wall, arms crossed casually over his chest.

"All systems are working great. The program's working so effectively that I barely need to be here."

_Wish I wasn't_

Jack stepped behind her, looking over the algorithms. He nodded, satisfied.

"Looking good."

"Thank you, Captain."

She typed in silence for a moment.

"So, what rank do you hold?" Jack asked.

"Privet first-" Jenny paused. "Sorry. None, actually. I'm not a member of an armed force." Behind her, Jack nodded, his eyes thoughtful.

The radio buzzed with Gwen's voice, muttering imprecations under her breath. Jack's lips quirked in a half-smile.

"She's going to be a handful by tonight. My team's spread pretty thin out there."

"Why don't you have more people in your command?"

"Most of the time we do fine. But we could use some help today."

"That's what we're here for." Jenny replied lightly.

"Help out in the field is what I really need. I don't suppose you'd be interested in, maybe, going out on patrol?"

Jenny turned in her seat to look at the man for a long moment. Then she shook her head.

"Sorry. I have to input these calculations."

Jack smiled in a way that made a little shiver run down Jenny's spine. Opening the device on his wrist, he held it near the computer, typing for several moments. The great main modems behind her buzzed, and the newest algorithms appeared. Jenny looked up, wide-eyed.

"You rerouted the data through your modems."

He nodded, his eyes on hers. "Looks like you don't need to input it."

Jenny nodded slowly.

"My father did sort of give me a command to work down here."

"Well," Jack said, his voice low, "I am the captain at this base. And I'm requesting aid on the field." He smiled again, a small, sly smile.

"I'll even buy lunch."

After a moment, Jenny grinned up at him.

"You're on. Just give me a minute."

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

The Doctor was quite pleased with the way the maps were turning out. The time worms-he'd decided there must be two- were apparently focusing on two areas of town, one in the Café Quarter and the other in the area of Roath Park, with occasional trips outside their favored hunting grounds. Probably when crowds were scarce. He hummed to himself as he carried a plate of sandwiches down the stairs. Jenny would be getting peckish by now. Everything was starting to work out. Soon enough they'd have this little thing wrapped up, the TARDIS would be refueled, and then they could have a bit of chit-chat time with Jack before they were off. Quite a fine two day's work, if he did say so.

Stepping inside the room, he called out. "Jenny! Got lunch here for you! 'Course it's hard to make you a peanut butter and jelly when you eat the marmalade before we've had it two days, but I scrounged…"

Rounding one of the computer modems, he stopped. Jenny wasn't at the desk. And, now that he came to pay attention to it, she wasn't in the room at all. Odd. Was she in the loo? No, didn't feel her there either.

Something on the desk caught his eye. A note.

_Father,_

_Went on patrol with Captain Jack. Don't worry; the computer's doing the reroute. Said he's going to show me Cardiff while we track. Might take a while. Will report if we are later than sundown._

_Jenny_

The Doctor stared for a long moment.

"Jack _Harkness_!" He spat the name, crumpling the note in his hand. "Jack _Harkness_! That- that- _Jack Harkness_!" Lightning in his eyes, the Doctor turned on his heel, vaulting up the stairs. The TARDIS door slammed open before he'd touched it, and he strode across the threshold. He barely noticed the Walker staring at him as he marched across the control room, snatching up his coat as he moved, still exclaiming.

"_Harkness._ That audacious- that-and my daughter-she's never even been kissed-well, once, but still-I'll murder him this time, I really will. Five years and a few months and he's taking her-and he's-I'll murder him. No, I'll atomize him. Walking sex machine! I'll cut him up and stick every bit in a separate jar. No, I'll drop him out in deep space, see how he likes that. Near a supernova maybe. Or a quasar. He can walk home!" he marched out into the Hub. "_Harkness! _ She's out with that-he actually took her –_Jack Harkness._ Into the middle of a- and her timelines are-if he tries to kiss her I'll- what in Rassilon's name is she thinking?! Oh am I…" the door rolled open, and the Doctor strode away in a swirl of coat tails. His voice drifted faintly down the hall.

"_Harkness!"_

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The Captain was as good as his word. They had bought fish and chips from a vendor, and strolled casually up the street as they ate. Jenny tried to look casual, anyway. But she couldn't help studying every set of timelines, watching, waiting. Next time she'd be ready for the thing.

Twice the Captain had tried to start conversations, but between eating and watching Jenny knew she wasn't much for company. So he resorted to acting a bit of a tour guide.

After three hours of tracking, they were still coming up empty. The little device in her pocket had gone off several times, but they'd all been false alarms; a woman suddenly deciding to skip her taxi ride and walk, a man making an impulsive purchase. Damn, she ought to fine-tune it.

As the sun beat down on the street, Jack pointed out a small café. "We might as well sit down and see if anything comes along. C'mon. I'll get you a latte."

"I'd rather have a malt-or are they calling it a milkshake right now? Ice cream, milk and flavorings? Banana, if they've got it. Or Peach. Or Thamargo"

Jack smiled down at her.

"You know, sometimes you sound so much like the Doc it's scary."

As they sat and watched the passersby, Jenny found out that Jack was actually a lot of fun to talk to. His weird timelines had made it hard for her to figure out when he was from, but he'd been around enough that he knew a lot of her favorite places, and he had a few great stories of his own to tell. She was having a great time by the time they'd finished their drinks. She almost spit out the dregs of her milkshake laughing at the end of Jack's last story.  
"No way!" she giggled out. He leaned back in his chair with a grin.

"True as I'm sitting here. That's why you have to hit up Est sometime. And they have these privet anti-gravity chambers, they rent them out to couples and groups. Weightlessness is one of the best feelings, and it can intensify every other sensation, I mean _every_ sensation. Ever had sex in anti-gravity?"

"No." Jenny said, leaning her elbows on the table, "Never had sex at all, actually."

Jack leaned back in his chair, grinning incredulously.

"Then you don't know what you're missing. I'd tell you, I might even show you, since I could be called an expert in the subject. If I didn't think that your dad might skin me alive for it -"

"Not might, Jack Harkness, _would_!"

Jack's eyes grew huge, fixed over Jenny's shoulder. Jenny carefully set down her glass.

_Oh shix._

"Hello, Father."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

The Doctor glared from one of them to the other. He didn't know who angered him more; Jack, who'd obviously tempted Jenny and towed her along, _and_ started giving her talks about things she had no business- well, he had no business telling her- or Jenny, who'd had the nerve to follow him, wandering off like he'd told her how many times _not_ to do, and here the two of them were, right in the epicenter of a time worm's hunting ground.

Jack gave him a mock-cocky smile

"Hi, Doctor!"

"Jack Harkness, you are very lucky you cannot die, because-"

It took a minute for him to notice anything past his roiling anger. His back had stiffened before he'd realized how very wrong the air suddenly felt.

"Doctor, what's wrong?"

"Time worm. Shh."

He turned slowly on his heel, following the sense like a bad scent in the air.

There. A large, beefy man, behind him and to the left. Taking a bite of his sandwich. The lines around him twitched-shivered- the new line was spliced, nearly in place-the man was going to choke.

"Oh no you don't!"

Dashing to the man's side, the Doctor summoned up all his concentration, forcing the lines back, back into order. It was like pulling against a lead weight. The lines were being jerked and tugged from his grasp, but he hung on, eyes shut tight. It was fighting him for the energy. He fought back.

_You get out of here. Go on. Get!_

Briefly, dizziness swam over him. It had tried to tug one of his lines, get a taste of him too. The nerve! He jerked sequences of time into a tightening cage around the thing-almost had it-he could see its outline as it dented timespace-

And then it was gone, slipped away, the timelines falling limply back into their proper places.

"Oi! What're you doin'?"

Distantly, the Doctor realized he'd grabbed the back of the man's chair. He smiled.

"Just saving your life. Cheerio."

Jack and Jenny were staring at him.

"Did you get it, Doc?"

The Doctor sighed, hands in his coat pockets.

"I'm afraid I didn't. And I'm afraid that now I've got its attention."

He locked eyes with his old friend.

"And I'm afraid you've got a lot to answer for, Jack."

_**Author's Note: Attention all Welsh! Help! I'm really not sure if I'm getting the details of the city or the Welsh speech style right at all. Am I on the right trail? Not? Completely off? Please review!**_


	5. Chapter 5

5

"Doc, how many times have you said you trusted me?"

"I'd trust you with my lives Jack, but not with my _daughter_!"

"Father, really,-"

"And don't you start. Of all the stupid things to do, going into a city you don't know where something is attacking high energy lines _specifically_. I mean how thick can you get?"

"Doctor, we were just-" The Hub door rolled back to admit two very exasperated Time Lords and one slightly amused immortal. The Doctor turned sharply.

"I saw what you were 'just', Captain Jack Harkness! What gave you the blooming presumption to tell my daughter about _sex_?!"

"He didn't actually have time to tell me anything." He spared a glare for his daughter. Beside him, Jack shrugged. "She's old enough to talk about adult subjects."

The glare turned on Jack. "Yes, but not about _sex_! And not with _you_! We-Time Lords don't- you didn't need to bring that up."

Jack raised a brow. "Oh come on, Doc. Even the great and mighty Time Lords had to procreate."

"Well, yes-sort of-but we- ah, we didn't-there were the Looms for that though, and…but the point is, you went directly into harm's way, playing around when we've got two dangerous creatures to hunt down!"

"Two?" That cut the frustrating amusement from Jack's tone. The Doctor shot him another glare over his shoulder.

"Yes, Captain Cradle Robber, two. Based on the mapping projection of the anomalies I've gotten from your lot, once I weeded out the false starts, it seems there are two separate hunting grounds and two separate creatures. See for yourself." He strode to the door of his ship, pushing it open.

"How's it coming?"

"Quite well." The Walker replied from her place in the console chair. "The areas seem to be getting more defined with every true incident, though weeding through the false reports is taking the ship some time."

The Doctor stepped up behind her, studying the main monitor. He jabbed a finger at the center of one of the two areas delineated by blotches of yellow, turning on Jack.

"That's where you were, right in the middle of the attack epicenter. Really clever, real-ly clever." He shook his head, then typed several characters on the keyboard.

"Give me your tracking discs, you two."

Both his daughter and his friend handed over their discs. Plugging them into one of the console's information input circuits, he typed for another moment, then pulled them out, handing them over brusquely.

"There. These'll work better now; track just what they ought to track. And we better track them fast. We can't waste any more time. The worm I just jigged about with out there was fully mature, strong too. Big bugger. And if they're mature, we've got a new problem. The things themselves are trouble enough, but the worst of it is that they'll scent each other's pheromones. Then if they're both mature they'll want to get together and make a load of little time worms, and we _really_ don't want that. Plus, one of them knows that there are other big fish in the pond now .It won't forget meeting me in a hurry." He straightened, and ran his eyes over the readouts and information, appraising for a long moment. "I think it's time for all of us to get out there and round the buggers up. We'll split into two groups, one for each hunting ground. Walker, you can go with the Captain; _you're_ sensible enough to keep from falling for his nonsense. Jenny, you're with me. Once the other two get in, we can go."

"And what do we do when we catch up to them?" Jack asked. The Doctor met his eyes.

"Pest control."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Pest control. Gwen trudged behind father and daughter. Pest control. Gwen hated going into situations without information. But even Jack had been vague this time.

"Do me a favor, go with the Doctor and help him out with his pest control." Was all he had said, a hint of amusement in his voice. Jack was always a bit…well, he was Jack. Enigmatic, maybe. But he'd never withheld this much on things involved in the job before. Because he had, she was stuck trailing about after these two, absolutely no clue where they were headed or why. She'd been handed a small tranquilizing gun of some kind, but how she was supposed to shoot something she didn't see she had no idea. And the Doctor had been even less forthcoming than Jack. They were tracking, he'd stated shortly, with something about 'residual timeline interfaces'. And what the bloody hell that meant she, again, had no clue.

But it obviously meant something to the Doctor, because he'd taken off like a dog that smelled a Sunday roast, and they'd been on the streets for most of the day after that. The trail had already led them to a construction site where a man's leg had been crushed by a badly secured beam. They'd interviewed one of his mates, who'd been pretty far into shock.

"I don' know how the 'ell it happened." The man kept repeating. "We had that thing tied up right."

The two aliens had exchanged a dark look. They knew just how it had happened.

Then they'd entered a hospital, finding a patient who'd just been given the wrong medicine. A fatal mistake. And now they were back on the street. All three of them held the little tracking discs in their hands. The girl ahead of her alternated between glancing at it and looking down the street. Her father barely looked at his disc, his eyes narrowed on the street ahead of them. Sometimes he'd stop and glance around slowly, only to shrug and take off again.

"What should I watch for to spot this kind of residual point?" the girl asked quietly.

"It's a bit like a twist in the local temporal fabric." Her father replied, eyes fixed ahead. "Sort of…" he dropped into their language. Gwen hated it when people talked in other languages around her. She'd hated it from the third day of work at the DC. Germans, Italians and French were bad enough; their conversations always made her feel like they were trying to keep something from her. But these two could very easily speak English, which made it that much worse. And of course they'd probably just say she couldn't understand if she asked what they were on about.

Gwen caught herself. She was angrier than she needed to be, and she knew it. But these days she couldn't seem to help getting brassed off. Even Rhys had said something about it. It was like the switch had been flipped on a couple of months ago.

Jenny dropped back."So how long have you lived here in Cardiff?" This was about the third time that the girl had tried to start the talk going. It was hard, Gwen admitted, to stay angry at somebody who tried so hard to be friendly.

"All my life." She replied, pulling herself together. "My mum was born here too."

"Oh wow. And her mum too?"

"Yeah. We've been here since the eighteen hundreds."

Jenny nodded. "So this town is really in your blood. Your family must be proud that you're defending it."

Gwen shrugged. "S'pose, yeah. Course they don't know what I do; I told Mum an' Dad that I work in Special Ops. I don' think they'd like it much if I told 'em I'm an alien catcher." She smiled sardonically. Jenny's pale face glowed in reply.

"Always fun figuring out what to tell people, isn't it?"

"Well, it's not like you can go about telling your mates 'what did I do today? Oh, caught a weevil, locked down the Rift again, hunted down a giant blowfish bloke an' sent 'im on 'is way'."

"Yeah. I have a pretty long cover story, because you don't tell people 'What do I do? I travel in space time. My family? Oh, my dad's the Doctor, and my mum's a big blue box." Jenny shook her head with a grin.

"Blue box?" Gwen said, her brow wrinkling. Was she talking about their ship?

The girl shrugged. "The TARDIS. She's kind of like a mum. Takes care of me and my father, tells us where we should go, reminds Father to do the shopping. Stuff like that. She's always there."

"So your ship's…what, alive?"

Jenny shrugged. "Sort of. Alternately sentient."

"And how about when you're not travelling?" Gwen asked. Jenny glanced at her, perplexed.

"We're always travelling."

"But-don' you have a house somewhere?"

"The TARDIS is our house. She's our home." She glanced at Gwen's face.

"You probably think that it's too small for that; most people do, but you only saw the console room. There's a lot more in-"

"Jenny, less talking, more tracking, thanks."

Jenny started. "Yes, Father." It made Gwen's gorge rise, the way he acted. What a bugger the man was. Jenny shot a sideways glance at her.

"Sorry about Father." She said softly, "He can be like that sometimes. When he's preoccupied."

Ahead of them, the Doctor stopped for what must have been the fifth or sixth time, standing stock still.

"Jenny, you were asking how the time interface residuals look?"

"Yeah?"

"Actually," he said slowly, "They look like that. And this one's almost fresh. Maybe….come on."

They'd entered a big office building now, one of those places with a big lobby and a desk sitter. The Doctor smiled brightly in the woman's direction.

"The gents still waiting on us then? Lovely. Allonsy, girls." He kept the smile until they were on the stairs, leaving the bewildered secretary behind.

As they climbed to the second story, Jenny glanced behind her. "Keep up, Gwen." Her father was already several steps ahead of her. All at once, he went stiff as a board, staring.

"Oh. There you are…" then he took off running down the corridor, his daughter on his heels. By the time Gwen got to the top of the stairs, she could just see Jenny dashing around the corner at the end of the long hall. Bloody hell they were fast. She sprinted flat-out after them.

In the time it took her to make it into the room, the Doctor had already gotten on his knees beside a prostrate man, the little device he always carried glowing blue against the man's collarbone.

"Come on, come on!" he growled. The body jerked twice. Then the Doctor sat back on his heels. He glanced up at his daughter.

"No good?"

"No good."

Slowly, he stood.

"We can't do anything here. Come on."

"I'll call hospital." Gwen said, looking around for a phone.

"No time." The Doctor said, turning away.

Gwen turned. Had she heard him right?

"Aren't you goin' to call the paramedics?" she asked sharply. The Doctor shook his head.

"There's no point, he's dead. We need to keep moving and follow the trail while it's hot."

The plain callousness of this brought Gwen's anger to the boil again.

"Oh right, follow the trail, which'll lead us to another dead man. Don' suppose we could use all your amazing stuff and get to them _before _they kick it, maybe?"

For a moment the man simply stared at her. Then he turned, and swept out of the room, coattails flapping. Gwen wanted badly to stop and call the hospital, but if she tried she'd be left behind. Hands balled into fists, she followed.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Jenny was starting to get really frustrated. They were still tracking, nine hours later. The sun was setting, and they were still too far behind. All they seemed to find were people they were too late to help. Apparently the other team was having the same sort of luck; they'd been in radio contact, and though the Walker felt that she was very close behind, she hadn't had even one sighting of the creatures.

Soon the sun had set all together, and the street lights flickered on.

"Right Jack," the Doctor said into the radio speaker, "We're headed in the same direction. We'll be there in a few minutes." He shut off the unit with an explosive sigh.

"The trails are dovetailing. They're getting close to each other. Great. Just great. There's a club up ahead; the Walker thinks one of the worms has gone inside. We'll regroup there."

Jenny nodded. Beside her, Gwen barely responded. She'd been getting angrier ever since they started. Jenny knew she was supposed to shield herself enough so that she only picked up on emotions when she chose to, but she couldn't help noticing what she saw in Gwen. It could be dangerous, working with a comrade who was so on-edge. It was certainly unsettling.

The club was a warehouse of a building with a flashing sign over the door. Inside, more lights strobed, and pounding music made the floor reverberate with the beat. Gwen held up a badge, and they were in. People covered every inch of the room. The dance form was a lot less graceful than the Arabic style from the same time period. All the same, it looked fun, like the music. She loved this kind of music.

But she really needed to focus. The number of people moving and making sudden decisions created a play of timelines that was as distracting as the strobe lights. She narrowed her eyes. Hunting was going to be crap in here.

Watching the crowd, Jenny ran through their attack strategy. Whichever of the three of them found the animal, they were supposed to take and warp the environmental timelines around it. That many sudden changes would keep it distracted for a long period of time; then they could incapacitate it and store it in the TARDIS, where it couldn't do much damage. If one of the Torchwood team picked up its signal, they were to call one of the Time Lords. She fingered the tranquilizer in her jean pocket, running fingers carefully over the trigger. About bloody time they did this right. Stupid bug.

Smart bug, she corrected herself. Scarily smart. A powerful adversary.

"Oh bloody hell. It would be a bloody rock club."

Jenny glanced at Gwen.

"Hunh?"

"Rock club. They play old rock music from the UK and the USA. I hate these places." And she really was roiling with more annoyance than ever. In contrast, her father was smiling as he tapped a trainer.

"Well, be that as it may…" the Doctor said, his gaze sweeping the room. He peered into the crowd, then raised a hand and waved.

"Ah! There's Jack and the rest." He waved both his hands in a wide gesture, and Jenny saw Jack nod. The Doctor raised his voice so Gwen could hear him in the din.

"Right. We're going to fan out. Jack seems to be following my meaning; always knows how to follow orders, good chap."

The wordless shout of anger and emotion turned Jenny on instinct. Gwen's face had gone rigid as titanium, and her eyes burned into the Doctor with something approaching rage. But the Doctor wasn't looking at her. "Gwen, I want you to-"

"I don't think I bloody well care what you want me to do!" Gwen snapped. Her words turned the Doctor's head, his expression baffled, but she had already launched into more loud words.

"I don' think you've noticed, but I happen to work for Jack, for Torchwood, an' not for you, I don' care how much you know or what plan you got in mind. I get my orders from Jack, got it?"

"If I'm right, Jack ordered you to help me out." The Doctor replied. "So if you want to save a few lives…"

"Oh, like we've done earlier? Seems like all you manage to do is get there a few minutes too late. At least at Torchwood we get this done with less messing about and fewer bodies. You haven't helped a single person today!" She glared up at the Doctor. He stared at her. For a moment, Jenny saw the flash of pain in his eyes, the pain that he always hid, twisting up inside of him, cutting like knives. He seemed to hold his breath for a moment. Then he turned away.

"Fine. Go and ask your Captain for orders; I don't have time to deal with you. Jenny, northwest diagonal direction."

Jenny didn't bother to respond; she was too livid. Hot anger was burning up the pit of her stomach, tightening her muscles into whipcords. Before the other woman moved, Jenny grabbed her arm, making her turn to face the girl's gaze.

"I want you to leave my father alone."

"What-"

"Leave my father alone." Jenny repeated her order over the barrage of Poison. "He's doing what he can, and he doesn't need you reminding him of the civilian damage that's been sustained."

"Civilian damages?" Gwen barked, tugging her arm away, "Funny, doesn't look like he gives a damn about these _civilian damages._"

Jenny let out a mirthless laugh. "You actually believe that _my father_ doesn't care? Maybe your files didn't tell you this, but we're empathic as well as telepathic. Know what that means? It means that every time we meet somebody hurting, like these victims and their friends, we feel it. My father feels it most of all. He still remembers people he couldn't help from two hundred years ago, and beats himself up about them. But he doesn't let emotions get in the way of completing the mission. Maybe you can do the same, and leave him alone."

"Oh sure!" Gwen was almost yelling now. "Then maybe you can tell him to leave Jack alone! You lot, you come t'this planet, and all of you have super powers or amazing intellect or amazing tech stuff. Even your goddamn bugs can knock us all to shit. And we've got nothing against it. We've got the shit and the leftovers of the universe, all the stuff out there, we get the junk. And then the one person we got who knows about it, the one person who knows what the bloody hell we can do, and you come in an' have the gall to give him orders! You've got no right! And you haven't got the right to come here and use this planet for whatever goddamn thing you like! Dump, hunting ground, refugee camp, I'm fucking sick of it, sick of all of this shit! So you can take your orders and go stuff them, you got me?"

For a moment, Jenny stared at the woman, blinking in the wake of the emotional storm. All that feeling. So much of it. And all from a simple mission.

"So dramatic, you lot." She said absently.

But now that she looked, really looked, she saw the reason. All that emotion had uncovered the things that caused her anger, boiled them up to the surface. Jenny's gaze softened as she understood, and spoke.

"You're angry. You're sad and you're hurt. And you're right, it's not fair, the things that happen. It's wrong that somebody could just come out of the stars, wreck your life and take away your friends like they did. And you try to say it doesn't hurt. But it's going to. It always hurts. It's supposed to hurt." She kept her gaze steady, even as the other woman's filled with tears, waiting as the waves of emotion wracked her. Then she said the only thing she could think of, the only thing that might lend comfort.

"The thing is, we've got a duty here. You and me, Father and Jack, we fix things, best as we can. That's our prerogative. We've got a job to do. So let's go and do it." Pulling out her tracking disc, Jenny laid a hand on the human's shoulder, giving her what emotional help she could. Then she stepped into the crowd, leaving Gwen standing with her hands balled into fists, her eyes full of tears that glinted beneath the lights.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

_Tell me, doctor, where are we going this time  
Is this the 50's, or 1999  
All I wanted to do - was play my guitar and sing  
_

The Doctor strode through the crowd. His granddaughter was right. This worm was somewhere close at hand. Tiny changes were occurring everywhere: A glass shattered. A shoe was broken. A drink spilled. A gaffe was made in conversation. This was a veritable feasting ground for the thing.

He almost had it. Almost. It had found a couple who was most likely going to get married in a few years. But not if the fellow muffed it right now and annoyed the girl first. Well, at least he was able to tweak those lines back on track.  
_So take me away, I don't mind  
But you better promise me, I'll be back in time  
Gotta get back in time_

He saw Jack in the timelines before he saw the man himself, like a rock in the river.

"Doctor! Any luck?"

"A bit, but not enough."

_Don't bet your future, on one roll of the dice  
Better remember, lightning never strikes twice  
Please don't drive 88, don't wanna be late again  
_

The Doctor looked up, a smile flitting across his face. "This is Huey Lewis, right?"

Perplexed for a moment, Jack nodded.

"Think so…"

"So he wrote it after all! Said he'd write a song for me sometime. Very nice."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "You met Huey Lewis."

"Met him, saved his life. Stolen TARDIS disguised as some sort of car, held in non-Time Lord hands. Long story. But, back to the point. We're close. Very very close. But all these people…"

"I could clear the place."

"Nah, the worm'd just leave with them. It's them that it's here for."

_So take me away, I don't mind  
But you better promise me, I'll be back in time  
Gotta get back in time  
Gotta get back in time  
Get me back in time_

"Think undercover would work?" Jack called over the music.

"What?"

"We mix into the crowd, pretend we're here to dance. Jenny, Walker and you attract it, if I understood what you said earlier."

"Mm. That's a distinct…" The Doctor glanced up at the ceiling for a moment as he thought. It could work, though he'd have to keep well out of it; one of the bugs would remember him as a threat, and he had no way to tell which one was in here. Then his eyes registered what he was seeing. He looked back at Jack, a grin on his face.

"Actually, that's brilliant. But I'll do you one better."

Jack quirked a questioning eyebrow. For an answer, the Doctor pointed at the catwalks above.

……………………………………………………………………………………….

The next song started in a beat of drum and cymbals.

_It's astounding  
time is fleeting  
madness takes its toll  
but listen closely  
not for very much longer  
I've got to take control_

"We're to do _what_?"

"Dance." Ianto repeated, "Jack and your granddad have some idea they want to try. He told me we're to mix into the crowd and dance, look like we're just here for a good time." Leaning over, he handed her a short note. The Walker almost rolled her eyes as she read it. Only Grandfather would try something like this. She tried to contact him for a moment, find out exactly what he was up to. But he was distracted. With a sigh, the Walker shrugged.

"I suppose." She studied the dancers for a moment more.

_I remember doing the time warp  
drinking those moments  
the blackness would hit me  
and the void would be calling_

The crowd was tight, pulsing to the beat. Apparently this dance had steps, because the Walker saw several people making the same movements. And she couldn't help but appreciate the lyrics.

_  
Let's do the Time Warp again  
Let's do the Time Warp again_

Off to her left, there was Jack, doing the moves of the dance perfectly, and his partner Ianto, only a little less skilled. Jenny shimmied up, and called her over.

"You've got to learn this!"

"We're supposed-"

"I can keep an eye out and dance at the same time, so can you!"

_It's just a jump to the left  
then you step to the right  
put your hands on your hips  
then bring your knees in tight  
but it's the pelvic thrust  
that really drives you insane_

Jack made the most of the more lewd movements of the dance, making them all grin. Soon both girls had picked up the steps. Despite her nervousness, the Walker couldn't help but enjoy the music. This was certainly a rather agreeable way to act as bait.

………………………………………………………………………………………..

_Let's do the Time Warp again  
Let's do the Time Warp again_

The Doctor jumped stairs two at a time. This was going to work out quite nicely. He'd reset all the tracking devices remotely to go off the moment a bug was picked up, and quite loudly too. Whoever had a reacting unit was to hold it up, and that would mark the creature as it glowed. When it went off, he'd use his vantage point up on the catwalks to pinpoint the creature and tranquilize it. There was no way he'd spot it down in the turmoil, but up there, he could see the patterns of dancers playing out clearly. Perspective. It was really all about perspective. __

It's so dreamy oh fantasy free me  
so you can't see me no not at all  
In another dimension voyeuristic intention  
Well secluded I see all

He opened a door on to the catwalks. They spread over the entire superstructure, both dance floors and several back rooms. Calculating the weight capacity of the structure absently, the Doctor stepped on to the catwalk, studying the floor beneath. He soon spotted Jenny and the Walker dancing near each other, Jack and his lover nearly embracing as they danced, Gwen over on the second floor. His assumption had been right. Everything was much clearer up here.

_With a bit of a mind flip  
you're into a time trip  
and nothing can ever be the same  
You're spaced out on sensation  
like you're under sedation_

Let's do the Time Warp again  
Let's do the Time Warp again

However, his assumption about the catwalk had been wrong. They weren't actually connected; more floating on their ropes. Most of them were only a step apart, but a few he'd need to jump. Well, no problem. He studied the dance floors with flickering eyes, stepping from catwalk to swaying catwalk. The music rolled through the room.

_Well I was walking down the street  
just a having a think  
when a snake of a guy gave me  
a mean evil wink_

He shoook-a me up  
he took me by surprise  
he was staring at me  
He had a pick up truck  
and the devil's eyes

_  
_Why was it that so many human songs had to do with sex? Honestly, they really were obsessed with the subject, he thought as his eyes roved over the club. His favorite sex-maniac was currently dragging his man onto the next dance floor. The Doctor wondered if they remembered what their actual purpose in the place was by now. Well, at least they were happy.

Still not a bite. He walked back over in the direction of the first dance floor, towards the girls. Maybe they'd attract it.

_He stared at me and I felt a change  
time meant nothing, it never would again_

He was over what looked to be a storage space, filled with musical bits, cleaning supplies and old decorations. It was directly between the two floors, a good vantage point. But maybe not good enough. He wanted to have an eye on the girls.

The next catwalk would take a bit of a jump. The calculation ran through his head, and he took a running leap. No problem.

Problem. It was here. How had it gotten up here? He could feel the pull and tug as the timelines changed. And the catwalk wasn't _there,_ its location shifted in space. In the split second of empty air, the Doctor's fingers grasped for the rail just out of reach, his mind leaping for the timelines he needed even as he began to plummet. Too late.

He fell with a cry that was swallowed up in the blaring music.

_Let's do the Time Warp again  
Let's do the Time Warp again_

_  
_Pain.

Blackness.

_**Author's Note: The songs are Huey Lewis's 'Back in Time' and Rocky Horror Show's 'Time Warp'**_


	6. Chapter 6

6

Jack couldn't remember the last time he'd had such a good time on an investigation. Ianto's body was hot as it moved against his own, pulsing with the beat of the music. If they were lucky, tonight they'd be able to find some time to do something about the heat between them; if they didn't Jack was sure that he, for one, would go a little crazy. But for the moment dancing-vertically-was a fairly good substitute. Off to the left he could see the Doctor's kids. The Doctor's kids. He never thought he'd say those words, even in the privacy of his own head. They were dancing, grinning at each other. It was amazing to see the change in the Doctor, now that he had these two. He'd been broken, ever since he lost Rose. But now, the ragged edges seemed to be smoothing out in him. He hadn't seen that partly-hidden pain in the Time Lord's eyes. Anxiety, yes, as well as anger bordering on Oncoming-Storm intensity. But that terrible emptiness was gone. These girls had taken it out, he thought as he watched them.

The change came on suddenly; Jack saw it in the girl's eyes before they froze, before they stopped dancing. Shock flashed out of them like electricity, fear sharp behind it. He didn't like it bandied around, but he was a bit of an empath in his own right. And he could feel their emotions like a kick in the gut. He pushed through the throng. The Walker had a hand pressed to her temple by the time he got to them, and Jenny stared with eyes that were suddenly huge.

"What's wrong?" he demanded. Jenny looked up at him sharply.

"It's Father. I can't feel him. Can't feel him anywhere."

"Nor I." the Walker said, her voice distant. "Something's wrong."

"Maybe he stepped outside." Ianto suggested, walking up to stand beside him. Jenny shook her head.

"No, that isn't nearly far enough. I can communicate with him at a distance of eight miles, feel him way further than that, and Walker's better than me. The only time I can't feel him is when he's…"

"Unconscious." The Walker said quietly. "When he's unconscious." Carefully, the older girl placed a hand on each temple, looking a little like a nineteenth-century sideshow psychic.

"He's here…somewhere…but he-he's definitely incapacitated. I can only just feel him."

"Where?" Jenny demanded. The girl closed her dark eyes. Then she shook her head.

"Impossible to tell. It's just the barest sense; I can't get a grip on it. How could he-"

"Catwalks." Jack's jaw tensed. "He said he was going up onto the catwalks."

Jenny looked up, and spat a few indecipherable words. "He must've fallen. He can't have fallen on one of the dance floors; it would've caused a disturbance." She turned on her heel to face Jack. "We need a schematic of this building. How many auxiliary rooms are there?"

The force and controlled panic in her voice pushed Jack into popping open his wrist unit, punching in the address and bringing up a 3-d floorplan on the screen.

"There are six around the building, two behind each of the inner walls."

"Then we'll split up." Jenny shot back, "Everybody take a room, contact the others if you find him. We've got to hurry. He's vulnerable when he's unconscious. He can't protect himself, and the time worm will sense him fast. We've got to move."

Without waiting for a reply, Jenny turned on her heel and sprinted away.

For a moment, Jack watched her dash into the crowd. "Yes, ma'am."

Then he glanced at the others.

"Well, you heard her. Get moving. Find Gwen and tell her. And like she said; hurry."

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Blackness. Floating. Dark. So quiet. So very dark.

Or not. Not so dark. The paths gave light. They glowed.

He was standing on a path that shone, bright beneath his feet. Ahead of him it branched into four paths, trails that wound and forked as far as he could see.

The paths were important. He knew that, though he wasn't sure why.

Glancing behind him, he saw more roads of light, some bright, some dim. Then he remembered. They were roads he had taken, roads he hadn't. Choices he'd made.

He wasn't supposed to be here. He knew that. Not very long, anyway. One of these roads would take him out. Take him back.

Which one?

He needed to choose.

Choices. Always choices.

He walked down the row of paths. Voices echoed down them, memories of what might be.

"I found him! Second room on the right! Get in here!"

"Father, wake up! Come on!"

The next path gave other words.

"Stand back! Wait until the energy's gone."

"I must say, Grandfather, this new regeneration is…"

And then:

"Fraid my arm's broke."

"Damn, are you insane or just a…"

The fourth path was the dimmest, and the voices that came down it made him draw away.

"It can't be. It was just a fall. Just a little fall."

He walked up and down, straining, listening.

"If you don't wake up…I'll kiss Jack!"

"One more trip?"

"Very well, one more. But…"

"That was my home. In all my life, I've never lived another place at all."

"Today you're going to see the kings and queens of the Universe go to war."

"Give us a song for the battle, then."

Power. So much power. So many paths branching off that way. So many choices, so many actions and thousands of timelines tying into them, enough to dazzle him.

…

"This damn cast is a real…"

"Great. Just great."

"See? Useful. If it had bit skin I'd have lost this arm"

…

"Always nice, a bit of a change."

"Drums. Can't you hear the drums?"

"I can't believe I'm actually doing this."

…

"I can't go on alone."

"The Doctor was one of…"

Sobbing.

…

The first path. It glowed brightly, drawing him. And yet he was pulled. Pulled away, back towards the dimmest road.

He shook his head. He didn't want to go that way.

The pull grew stronger, became an incessant tug. He pushed against it. Unease trickled through the peace that ensconced him. He pulled back, stepped away.

"No."

He had to fight to stay in place.

"No!"

Now he was angry. He would not be made to walk a road he didn't choose. The pull grew stronger, stronger, but he fought his way back from the dark. Almost, almost…

There was another tug, vicious, painful, dragging him back towards the path that rang with sobs. He cried out, fighting back with everything he had left.

"NO!"

Then he stumbled, nearly fell back as the pull dissipated.

Free.

He took a step.

The bright path waited.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Jenny pulled a flashlight from her satchel on the run, dodging between dancers. She gave the first door a shove, slamming it open as she barreled in. He had to be in here. Had to. She kicked a box aside as she pushed into the room, searching for fawn fabric or dark hair. Her senses were straining to their peak. But nothing. She shone the light in every conceivable corner of the room. Father was a tall man. Damn it, he ought to be pretty easy to see if he was here. He wasn't. She turned on her heel, skidding out on the dance floor. Next room. Get into the next room.

The door banged open with enough force to dent the wall. Jenny flashed the light in efficient arcs, searching as she moved. The light played over decorations spilling from boxes, amplifiers and speakers, wall and ceiling-mounted lights detached from their moorings.

Something knocked in the dark, bringing Jenny's senses to such a peak that her ears ached with strain. There was a sound, just beyond the reach of her flashlight. Like tapping fingernails.

Or like legs.

_Time Worm._ Jenny drew her weapon, every muscle tense, every sense alert. She could almost feel it. The wrongness in its presence, the way it twisted the world up around itself.

She stepped forward.

In a rustle of clicking and scuttling, the sounds of its passage flickered by on her right side. Jenny got off two wild shots in the half light. But the clicking faded into the sound of the music outside. Goddamn. It had gotten out.

But why had it been in here? Because Father was in here? If it had gotten to him… Jenny turned sharply. She had to hurry. Search vector over the entire room. Her eyes flashed over everything, every detail. Wires. Light poles. Old instruments. Cleaning supplies. She had to find him. A flash of white. Just a sheet. Damn. Her free hand balled into a fist so tight that her knuckles cracked. Why couldn't she feel him?

Calm. Father had told her that. Telepathic ability was strongest when the mind was calm. If she wanted to feel him, she had to get a hold of herself.

Jenny closed her eyes, drawing a deep breath. Then, slowly, deliberately, she reached out.

_Father. Are you here?_

_Father. _

_Father._

_Where are you?_

There. Her eyes flashed open. Something. Not much. But something. Back in action, she shoved between boxes. Light bulbs. A mop. Decorations. A hand.

A hand.

Jenny leapt the intervening space, clambering up on boxes to get a better view.

Her father was sprawled over three boxes, his head resting on an amplifier. Though his face was bone white, his chest rose and fell. She breathed out. He was alive. She yanked out her radio.

"I found him! Second room on the right! Get in here!"

Then she turned back to her father. First aid. Fall; cranial damage. Check for contusions. Carefully, Jenny ran her hands over her father's head. She steadied herself against the amplifier with one hand. Then her brow furrowed distractedly.

_Why's this equipment wet?_ She glanced at her hand. Red. It was red.

"Shix." Jenny hissed. Carefully, she reached her fingers around the back of her father's head. It was wet.

"Shix!"

"Jenny!"

"Back here!" she called out. "We're back here!"

She barely looked up as the others gathered around her and the Doctor.

"He's alive. Unconscious but alive." She said shortly. "Posterior cranial damage with skin abrasion. He needs first aid immediately."

"We can't move him with that head wound." The Walker said, dropping down beside the Doctor on the boxes. "We need to wait for him to heal enough to wake or-well, regenerate if he's going to." She placed a hand on his forehead, closing her eyes.

"He's not." Jenny said, and hoped that the authority in her voice forced it to be true. He only had two regenerations left. He wasn't going to waste one on a little fall if she could bloody well help it.

Turning back to lean over her father, she called to him. Maybe he'd hear her.

"Father, wake up! Come on!"

Waiting was hell. She hated-absolutely, deeply, truly-hated waiting. They staunched the bleeding with a cloth from her satchel. But he wasn't waking up. Why wasn't he waking up? She paced up and down the small space, hands clenched. She needed to calm down. But she couldn't make herself relax. She needed to do something. But what could she do?

She leaned against a wall, hands digging into the skin of her arms. She was so deep in her thoughts that she barely noticed Gwen step up beside her.

"How is he?"

"He's sustained post-occipital cranial damage, possible hemohemmorage, and deep lacerations." Jenny reported. "Other than that, I don't know. The Walker's trying to help his body do the necessary repairs and revive him." At least that sounded more hopeful than 'we just have to wait and find out.'

Beside her, Gwen nodded. After a moment, she shifted uncomfortably where she stood.

"You know, what you said earlier, maybe I was too hard on 'im. I'm sorry for that."

Jenny nodded, but said nothing. She didn't want to answer. She didn't want a conversation, not now, not when her father lay there like that.

After a moment, Gwen spoke again.

"It's been hard, these last couple of months. It's been bloody hard. Sometimes I feel like…well, my temper's been gettin' the best of me. Sometimes I forget…that there's a reason I'm here, an' all. An' I just wanted to say, I thought about it, an'…well, thanks. Thanks for knockin' me back on the right track." With an awkward nod, she stepped away. Jenny glanced after her. Humans. So much drama.

Half an hour had gone by now. Music blared. His color was better, but he was still unconscious. The Walker's brow was beaded with sweat, her eyes still closed. Jenny growled deep in her throat. She had to do something or she'd go lunatic.

Turning on her heel, she stepped up on the box.

"Father." She said loudly, "If you don't wake up… I'll kiss Jack!"

A trickle shivered through her head. Tiny. Almost nothing.

Warmth. Just a little.

Then a swirl of blue and gold behind her eyes.

And a voice.

_Don't…_

_Don't…_

_Don't………you…dare…_

Jenny's eyes widened. The link was weak, weak still, but it was growing stronger and stronger. Beside her, the Walker cried out, making the Torchwood members jump and stare.

"Grandfather!"

It was another two minutes before his eyes flickered, then opened. The Doctor started to sit up, and grimaced.

"Ooh…ah! What'd I crack my head on?"

Jenny almost laughed in relief. "An amplifier, Father. You nearly split your skull. Really clumsy."

"Not clumsy." He said sourly, dabbing two fingers to the back of his head. "Bloody time worm. Pulled the cat-ah! Blimey, this aches!"

"Reminds you that you're alive, doesn't it, Doctor?" Jack said, his voice light in relief. The Doctor shook his head, and winced again.

"Not exactly my favorite way to be reminded. Ow!" He flinched away as first the Walker, then Jenny tried to check his wound. Jenny grabbed his shoulder, holding him steady.

"Father, don't be a wimp."

"It bloody hurts, you know! That's flesh back there you're poking at, Jenny. If I give my medical opinion, and I am, by the way, the best qualified here to do that, I'd say that poking at a wound is the least helpful thing you can do to the bloody thing!"

"I'm sure. Just be glad I don't shave your hair to do dermal repair work."

"Shave?!" her father cried in incredulous horror. The thought kept him ranting just long enough for his daughter and granddaughter to finish their assessment. Jenny breathed a sigh of relief, straightening. "It's healing." The Walker nodded her agreement.

"I could've told you that." The Doctor muttered. With another wince, he pushed himself to his feet. He was shaky. Jenny tensed and the Walker stepped forward, ready to catch him. But he stood, after a moment, straight, and stepped down off the boxes.

"It ambushed me." He said, his voice a mix of shock and wounded pride. "Bloody insect ambushed me. I knew they were smart. Oh, are they smart. But not that smart. And then, if you can believe it, the bugger tried to muck up my time lines. Bloody cheek! Kicking a man while he's down. Bad form, really very bad form."

"What did it do?" Jenny asked quickly, apprehension running through her gut. The Doctor waved a hand.

"Not much. There was something about…" He stared off into space for a long moment. Then he shook himself. "Tell you later. Anyway, this has really gone too far. Much longer and one of those bugs is going to start hunting _us_ 'stead of the other way around_._ New tactic. Need a new tactic. What to do, what to do, what to…" He paced the space around him, oblivious to the watching eyes. One hand raised in his habitual gesture of brushing through his hair. Jenny moved to say something, but her father had already absently ran his hand over the back of his head, and hissed in pain. He leaned against the nearest wall, eyes unfocused, deep in thought. And then his dark eyes grew wide, round as saucers.

"Oh! Of _course_!" Pushing the door open, he all but ran back out onto the dance floor. He had his idea. Jenny followed him at a jog as they skirted the crowd, crossing the dance floors and through the front door. Jack loped up, his face intense.

"Doctor, what…"

"Think about it." The Doctor said quickly, "What do these time worms live for? Feeding and procreation. That's all they know, all they're designed to do. Feed and do the deed. Food and sex, food and sex, that's all they want, all they ever want. Not so different from humans that way, actually. So you know how we best them?" He turned on his heel, looking at them as he walked backwards with a dangerous half-grin. "We give them what they want."

……………………………………………………………………………………….

The Doctor hummed to himself as he sprayed the next tree with pheromones. They hadn't been nearly as hard to mix up as he thought it'd be. Easy peasy.

Jenny's voice rang through his mind once more, making the back of his head throb.

_Father, let me do this next bit. You're too weak still._

_No Jenny. I told you; I'm doing this. Now, bit of hush, thanks._

_But you-_

_Final word on this. You do your part, and stay out of the danger zone. That's an order, got me?_

He got something like a nasty frown inside his head, then nothing. But at least he could be absolutely sure that she was safe now; she'd never go against a direct order, much as she hated it.

The scent of pheromones was heavy in the air, rank and sweet, wrinkling his nose. If this didn't attract them nothing would. The pheromones would intoxicate their little insectile brains, pulling them to each other. All he had to do was wait. He leaned back on his heels, relaxed, quiet.

The wait wasn't long. He could feel it the minute they stepped a foot inside the park. A slither, a ripple in grass and timelines. And another ripple, from the right this time. The Doctor smiled slightly. They were here. Now he just had to get their attention.

Slowly, he stepped away from the shadows. Then, drawing a breath, he lowered the shielding that was his by training and by blood. The full intricacy and power encased in him was suddenly visible to anyone with eyes to look. And the time worms had sixteen of them.

As one creature, the worms turned. Paused. Then they charged.

The Doctor tipped his head back.

"Now girls!"


	7. Chapter 7

7

The worms bore down. The Doctor held his breath. It had to time out. Too soon and they'd slip the net. Too late and…they wouldn't be too late. The girls knew what to do.

Still coming. Patience…patience…

His hearts rose as the hum of the TARDIS filled the air. He looked up, watching as the midnight sky disappeared behind the materializing ceiling of his ship. In a moment, he was standing on the entry ramp. The time worms were on the main platform. They had stopped running; the click of their legs rang in non-rhythmic chaos as the program he'd set began to run. The TARDIS extended its temporal grace to integrate the creatures, enfolding them, wrapping its timelines round and round. They were outlined now in the fabric of Time that enshrouded them. Less worms than gigantic millipedes, resembling nightmares from this planet's Devonian Era. Eight feet long, six feet tall as they reared up, they writhed and twisted in their cage of absolute time, manifold legs jabbing at the air in their frenzy. They fought, writhed. And then, finally, they grew still.

The Doctor stared up at the statuesque outlines, head cocked, grinning.  
"Hah! Malto bene! You two can just stay there for a bit." Turning on his heel, he strode out the door.

The Doctor stepped out to meet staring eyes. The Torchwood lot had made a semicircle around the door. He smiled, a wide, self-satisfied smile, stepping off the lintel.

"Creatures that feed on time, live on time. Take them and bung 'em into an area of complete temporal grace that supersedes the normal timespace they're used to, nothing to eat and nothing to do, and how do they react? Simply go dormant." He snapped his fingers. "Taken care of."

There was a clatter as Jenny bounded down the ramp, the grin of a hunter who's bagged her quarry wide on her face.

"You were right! Auxiliary control room worked perfectly."

"Course I was right." He replied serenely, tucking his hands in the pockets of his greatcoat, "I'm always right."

He turned on his heel, ignoring his daughter's raised brows. "Now Jack. You've been owing me a drink for the last…what, seven hundred years of your life? Really about time you paid up. Know any good pubs hereabouts?"

Jack grinned, but before he could reply, the Walker's voice drifted out of the TARDIS.

"Grandfather, you aren't leaving the insects in your control room, are you?"

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

"So what are you going to do with the bugs?" Gwen asked between gulps of her pint. They'd settled in a small pub where the music was loud but not too loud, the food wouldn't make the drinks taste foul and vice versa.

"Drop them on an uninhabited planet." Jenny said distractedly, biting into her shepard's pie with more enthusiasm than etiquette. "They can…change rocks an' trees an'…mm…lizards much as they want."

"Why not just…" Gwen mimed squashing something against the surface of the table. Beside her, Jack rolled his eyes.

"Nah." The Doctor said, leaning back in his chair, "It's not their fault they're the way they are. Nature designed them as perfect temporal predators; only problem comes in when they start hunting around sentient folks. So, no sentients around, bueno no problemo." With a shrug and another self-satisfied smile, he dug into his fish and chips.

"Sad that it took us so long to make our capture, though." The Walker said between sips of chocolate stout. "So many people."

A momentary ripple of quiet swept over the party. The Doctor looked away, out the window. It was something of an unwritten rule with him, and apparently with Jack and his lot as well, not to mention that. It was a wonder that his granddaughter hadn't picked the habit up in the last hundred years.

The light caught on his daughter's hair as she sat silhouetted by the window, making it glimmer. She was looking around the table, head cocked slightly, eyes studying.

"But can't we fix that too?" She asked in the quiet. The question brought the party's full attention on to her, though her inquiring eyes were fixed on him. The Doctor met them. She had to learn this.

"You know we can't." he replied. "Changing something that-"

"Yes, I know we can't change set timelines or interfere with anything that's fixed in time." Jenny said quickly, "But think about it for a bit, Father; these timelines are already disjoint, right? And they had to be in flux in the first place; I read the database and it said that they only feed on fluid time. So if they're fluid we can go back and redirect them back to where they're supposed to be."

"She has a point, actually…" the Walker said carefully, her brow furrowed. She looked up. "Grandfather, it is worth an attempt at least. We could-"

"Now-" The Doctor was interrupted by Ianto, leaning in with a furrowed brow.

"But how can you control where you're going to end up?" he asked. "There's no way to-"

"Oh yes there is!" Jenny replied with fierce relish, forgetting not to read minds in the grip of her idea. "We can land within a second's accuracy-at least most of the time-and tracking's an absolute skid-I mean, it's easy as anything in the TARDIS, and then we just land, and one look will show us where the problem is, they show up like neon signs the minute you look at them."

"It's not-"

"And then we simply manipulate events in order to redirect them into the proper line!" the Walker said eagerly, cutting her grandfather off in her enthusiasm. "Simple as falling into orbit! Grandfather, it really wouldn't be very hard at all. We could even split up, your ship and mine, dividing the incidents between us in order to undo the damage in half the time."

"Now wait a minute. We can't stop-"

"Well, of course we can't stop the creatures themselves, but we'll simply arrive in time to repair the damage. We'll manage to help the victims without interrupting our present timeline or running into ourselves at any point. It may be close, but-"

"Now just-" the Doctor was interrupted as Jenny jumped in animatedly. "But we can do it! This'll be a snap, and for once, we can repair absolutely every part of the problem! Father, come on, it's easier than the work we did on Yourta by a long stretch."

"Yes, and I saw you do far more difficult feats of temporal engineering a few hundred years ago."

"Doctor, if it's an issue of power, we can rig up something through our rift manipulator." Jack added, his eyes wide with the prospect of an all-too-rare chance to undo the damage that had been done.

"It is not an issue of power, but-" The Doctor stared in affront as his daughter laughed.

"Power? The TARDIS can handle way more output than that. And if you lot come along and we can tell you what to do, that could speed things up even more!"

" We're at your service."

"Great, then we can get right down to it! The tracking algorithm can be reset for trace interfaces to track the past attacks, Father, I can do that easy-"

"And if Grandfather's older TARDIS is having difficulties I can supplement-"

"All right!" the Doctor said in loud exasperation. "Fine! We'll give it a try." He glared at the circle of excited faces. "To shut all of you up if nothing else."

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Analisa Dimirov ran for the bus. She was late, so late, and terribly tired. No, don't think about that. The exam. Think about the exam. She needed to get a good grade on this one. She just had to. But she was so tired…this was her stop. She hurried off the bus. The station was bustling with people. She pushed her way into the throng

"Free coffe! Free coffee!"

Analisa grinned at the shortish young man in the business suit, who smiled affably back at her.

"Here you go, miss."

The cup he handed her was at least twice the size of a normal sample.

"Thanks!"

Her day had just gotten a bit better.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Christina jumped onto the bus. Her fingers fidgeted in nervous excitement. She was pretty keen to meet this fellow. He'd been so interesting on the phone, and really, it had been lovely for Zoe to set her up with her brother. She smiled to herself. And here was her stop. She jumped to her feet, ready to step off.

"Miss! Miss!"

Christina turned to see a pale woman with dark hair smiling at her, a red book held out in her hands.

"I believe you dropped this, miss."

………………………………………………………………………………………..

"I believe you're really going to be pleased with the new product."

The pitch was going perfectly. She was perfectly professional, a businesswoman. But on the inside she was a giddy girl hugging herself in sheer delight. The investors were eating out of her hand, even if she couldn't find her can of the product for the life of her. This was so very great.

"The Daffodil cordial is just the thing for a healthy growing child. And soon every mother in the UK is going to know it, with a little help from us, of course." She gave the cheeky smile that she'd practiced in the mirror, and raised a glass that she'd filled with something that was about the same color.

"To your health!"

They were all smiling at her.

"Well," their head man said, "I think that we'll have to take your offer."

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Dr. Rasheed handed his order to the nurse, who took it absently as she doled medications into the cups in front of her. He was about to move on, when a man in a long fawn coat stepped between them. He smiled at the young nurse in a friendly manner, chatting. Then he pointed at two of the cups in a casual fashion. The nurse glanced down, and visibly started. She started to speak, but the young man in the long coat shrugged, smiled, and walked off down the hall.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Danny squinted, holding his slingshot out for a better aim. The wood was cool in his fingers. He'd had to beg his mum for this slingshot for the longest time. The soda can he'd found to use for a target just sat there, daring him to hit it. He pulled back the band.

"You know, I used to shoot those a bit."

The boy turned, looking up at a dark-haired man in a dark, bulky coat, one like his granddad had left over from a long time ago. The man smiled down.

"And I think your aim's a little off. Here-" Taking the boy's hands, he helped Danny aim.

"Do it like that and you'll always hit your target."

"Really?'

"Yup."

Danny grinned, and let fly.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The crew was hard at work, so busy that they barely noticed the woman in the blue pea-coat who stepped onto the site until she was in their midst.

"Inspector Walker, pleasure to meet you." She said with a smile, speaking to the foreman. "I've been sent to do a bit of a check here. There's been a report of some safety violations in this project; specifically, some of your beams are apparently not being lifted properly or securely tied in place. This really must be addressed."

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Benny Holmes was a good runner. He had two strong wiry legs that carried him way faster than most eleven-year-olds could go. Right now his fast feet were flying across pavement. The crosswalk said 'do not cross', but the things were always a little slower than the light change.

A girl stepped right into his way just before he hit the edge of the sidewalk, making him skid to a stop.

"Hey!"

"Oh, sorry!" the girl said, brushing her pale bangs out of her eyes, But she didn't look sorry at all. In fact she was grinning at him like she'd just won a medal.

………………………………………………………………………………………………..

For the second time in two days, laughter rang through the Hub. With boxes of pizza and bottles of wine and beer, six people were celebrating. The plan had gone to perfection. Every single attack victim, every single one, had been realigned with their proper timeline or something close to it. The little group had been laughing together for the last three hours, high on their success.

"I'll tell you-" Jack said loudly, "When we got into that room, naked, and-"

"Jack, stop that story right there!"

"Aww, c'mon, Doc!"

"I mean it, I really do!"

Gwen and Jenny laughed, and Ianto grinned at the exchange between the two remarkable men as they bantered like secondary-school children. His lover made an exaggerated grimace and turned to the youngest Time Lord.

"Sometime you'll have to come by here with your sister instead of your dad, and then I can tell these stories without-"

"Jack!" the Doctor warned, only half-joking. Jack grinned widely.

Soon Gwen and Ianto, Jenny and Jack had nearly taken over the conversation, laughing and bantering with abandon. The Doctor relaxed, smiling as he watched friends and offspring. The beer and wine disappeared in record time as they joked, drank and ate.

"Well damn!" Jenny said laughingly, "'S all gone." The Doctor shook his head with an indulgent smile. He was going to have to teach her how to control her alcohol metabolism next.

"That's all right." Jack said languidly, "We'll get more in."

"No need." The Doctor said, "Just let me pop into the wine cellar for a mo. Back in two ticks." Jumping to his feet, he headed for his ship, smiling to himself.

His wine cellar door took a little time to find. He unearthed it eventually, and, luckily enough, a case of Tyrene beer that he thought everyone would enjoy. He read the label as he carried the large case.

'Malkere's Battle Brew, 1567.'

Battle.

Battle.

'Give us a song for the battle, then.'

His smile faded into a thoughtful expression. Such a strange thing, that little bit of pre-ja vu. A song for battle. Where? When? It seemed strange, pointless even. And yet it had come across clearly. And he had heard his own voice too, even this body's voice, speaking of the kings and queens of the universe. What was that all about, then?

'Give us a song for the battle, then.'

There was so much power in that sentence. And what he had seen; so many time lines, so much possibility. Something as large and as threatening as a storm cloud on the horizon, pregnant with more power than any lightening.

Well, he could deal with storms. He was quite intimately acquainted with the storm.

He used one hand to open the console-room door, still thinking. He barely registered the Walker for a moment.

"Oh. 'Ello. Didn't notice you there."

"I was wondering if you'd need a bit of help."

"Mm, nope. Have it in hand." He smiled, though his mind was still distracted. His granddaughter's voice pulled him back to the moment.

"Is anything wrong, Grandfather?"

"Hmm? Wrong?"

"You seem preoccupied."

She'd gotten far too good at reading him, she really had. The Doctor stared at her a moment, then looked away, shrugging.

"Might be nothing."

"But it's bothering you."

The Doctor sighed.

"When I was unconscious, just for a bit there, I hit a state where I saw pure Time. I looked down my own timeline."

"And?"

The Doctor met his granddaughter's eyes, dark as his own.

"Something's on the way, I think. Something's coming. Powerful and full of change. I don't know what, but…"

Then he realized that he was frightening the young woman; her eyes were wide and nervous as she stared into his. He smiled and shrugged again, raising stronger mental shields. "But, no sense in worrying over spilled milk…or milk that's going to get spilled. Wonder why they chose milk for that phrase. It's more of a tragedy when mead or Fraxyan juice gets spilled, really. Oh, speaking of mead-" he hefted the case. "C'mon. Drinks delivery."

Very early the next morning, it was time to get on their way. The Walker needed to get back to her work, the members of Torchwood needed their sleep, and Jenny had learned quite enough from Jack as it was.

The Doctor shook Jack's hand. "Well, Captain, be seeing you."

He turned to Ianto, repeating the gesture. "Very nice to meet you, Ianto Jones. Take care of this madman for me , hm?"

The young man nodded with a slight, oblique smile. "Of course, sir."

"Not sir, just the Doctor, thanks." He turned to Gwen with a slightly awkward smile.

"Nice to meet you too, Gwen Cooper. Sorry 'bout the bit of a run through you got."

She smiled in kind, averting her eyes.

"Er-yeah. Thanks. You…you take care." The Doctor nodded.

"Well, I suppose we'll see you around." Jack said warmly. With a slight smile, he turned to the Walker.

"And how about you? Got anything to do at the moment? We have an opening here at Torchwood, and we could use someone like you."

The Walker smiled.  
"Thank you for the compliment. But I do indeed have a position at the moment, though I'll bear the offer in mind."

"And if you keep trying to poach my progeny, I'll have to do something you won't enjoy." The Doctor muttered. Jack grinned, managing to make the expression obscene.

"How do you know I won't enjoy it?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Gah, I can't put up with you any more. Jenny, in the TARDIS. Walker, one more trip?"

The Walker tipped her head.

"Very well. One more. But…"

For a moment, he felt it again. He'd heard those words. But the familiarity swept away as she shrugged.

"Let's simply make sure it is short."

"Your wish is my command." Stepping beside his granddaughter, he closed the door of his ship.

After a moment, the Doctor stuck his head out the TARDIS door again. "By the way, I know I was a bit of a frustration just these last few days, so bless you lot who hang in there with this talkative - no; verbose - no; chatty - no; well, when I'm full of it…Joi de vivre that is, love of life, not the other kind of full of it. But maybe now that I think about it, perhaps both kinds. Anyway, thanks, and-

Someone inside was laughing. Jenny's voice cut the babble. "Father. Shut up."

The Doctor glanced behind him, into his ship. Then he grinned at the three humans in their subterranean fort.

"Right, I've been told. Well, bye for now!"

The door closed. The light on the roof glowed blue-white. And then the TARDIS slowly faded away, leaving a trace of a hum and a hint of laughter in its wake.


End file.
